Social Work and the Mexican American Movement

Overview: Historians have identified the Mexican American Movement (MAM) of the early 20th century as one of the first community based organizations developed to advocate for the status of Mexican Americans in California and the Southwest. This paper describes connections between YMCA group programs and the founding of the MAM.Proposal text: The Mexican American Movement (MAM), one of the first community based organizations for Mexican Americans in the US, was founded in Los Angeles in 1942. Scholars of Mexican American history have documented how this organization organized itself to address issues of identity, political consciousness, and community advocacy during this critical era. However,historical research on the MAM has not fully explored its connection with YMCA youth group programs.

This paper is part of a larger social work history project focused on the experiences and contributions of Mexican Americans. Primary and secondary historical methods such as were employed. Secondary methods included scholarly articles and books from the fields of Latinx/Chicanx studies, US history, and social welfare history. Primary sources included archival
written and visual materials and interviews with key informants.

During the early 20th century the Los Angeles YMCA offered programs for young men that included specific programs with immigrants, African Americans, and different ethnic populations. The MexicanYouth Conference (MYC) program began in 1934, as a leadership development program for Mexican American adolescent boys. This program was led by a Mexican American group worker and supported by funds to reduce “juvenile delinquency” among Mexican American youth. Group work methods were used to engage young men in developing “character, good citizenship, and desirable values.”

The MYC offered a weekend of workshops and activities with Mexican American youth from the Los Angeles area. By 1938 conference participants were organizing their own meetings and publishing their own newspaper (The Mexican Voice). By 1940 they involved female members and began calling themselves the Mexican American Movement. The successfully met a goal of the annual conference, which was to develop local and regional groups for Mexican American youth

In 1942, the leadership of the Mexican Youth Conference voted to leave the auspice of the YMCA to incorporate as an independent non-profit organization called the Mexican American Movement (MAM).The goals of the MAM incorporated many of the values of the YMCA group workers, such as community, self education and democracy, in addition to broader goals emphasizing improving the conditions of the Mexican American community.

Much of what we currently know about the MAM is from their publication:The Mexican Voice which began publishing in 1938 as a way for the participants in the Mexican Youth Conferences to reach a greater number of youth and youth organizations. The Mexican Voice became a regional publication with increasing autonomy from its original sponsor. The editor, Félix J. Gutiérrez, was an active member of the MAM and a student at Pasadena Junior College. The MAM connected Mexican American young men and women from Arizona and California contributed to their solidarity and built their leadership skills and social development. Many members went on to become educators, group workers, and attorneys in the greater Los Angeles area, using the skills they had developed to create new organizations such as the Association of Mexican American Teachers, Parents without Partners, and the Mexican American Political Association.