Entre Dos Mundos

Strength and Resilience in the Venegas Family

Introduction

In Fall 2020, a group of students - mostly first year and new to LMU - in a Rhetorical Arts: Speaking and Writing for Social Justice course, entered the virtual classroom of Archives and Special Collections at the William H. Hannon Library. Diving into the treasured archives of the Venegas Family Papers, students found old photographs, handwritten letters, and ephemera of various kinds. Students zooming in from different corners of the globe contemplated and researched selected archival objects to imagine the personal stories of this immigrant family. Along the way, students met for a virtual conversation with two siblings in the Venegas family, Dr. María Teresa Venegas and Carlos Venegas, who offered invaluable insights about their family, inspired students with their warm generosity, and bonded with students over shared ties with LMU.  

Here are the stories from the Venegas Family Papers that students wish to share with you.


Precious Archives: Entering the Venegas Family Story

Stamped 93 years ago in 1927 at the border town of Nogales, Sonora, Dolores Dávalos de Venegas’s identity card leaves behind hundreds of questions. This immigration document invites us to learn about the Venegas family story. What brought Dolores to the United States? What were her hopes, challenges, and experiences? Who kept and preserved her card so well for us to see today? As the beautifully preserved paper begins to tell the story of one Mexican woman entering the U.S. in the 1920s, it opens the door for us to reflect on immigrant and transnational family narratives. 

Identity card for Dolores Venegas issued by Migration Services of Mexico, 1927
Identity card for Dolores Venegas issued by Migration Services of Mexico, 1927

In 1927, Miguel and Dolores Venegas moved to the United States with their first four sons, José Miguel, Ricardo, Guillermo, and Eduardo. The Venegas family - devout Roman Catholics - were among the refugees fleeing from Mexico during the Cristero Rebellion. The family settled in the Bunker Hill area of Los Angeles, where six more Venegas children were born. 

Miguel and Dolores Venegas with their seven young children at the park, circa 1934
Miguel and Dolores Venegas with their seven young children at the park, circa 1934

El Rincón: A Family Business of Optimism 

After immigrating to Los Angeles from Mexico in 1927, Miguel Venegas followed in his father’s footsteps to become a store owner. Miguel opened El Rincón, a grocery store in Bunker Hill, a historical neighborhood of Downtown Los Angeles. The Great Depression hit two years later. Wages were cut, jobs were lost, and like many businesses, Miguel’s store suffered financially, losing $200 per month. Enduring the challenging times, the store remained significant to the livelihood and daily activities of the family. Miguel’s sons, José Miguel, Ricardo, and Guillermo, ran the family business whenever Miguel spent time in Mexico.  

Miguel Venegas and his son José Miguel with Jessie Treviño and Daniel in El Rincón Market, circa 1940
Miguel Venegas and his son José Miguel with Jessie Treviño and Daniel in El Rincón Market, circa 1940

Miguel’s daughter, Teresa, remembered that El Rincón burned down at some point, and she told a specific story about how their family held an optimistic outlook even after the fire. They would play a game guessing what was inside of the cans with burnt-off labels. Supporting one another through difficult experiences, the Venegas family kept optimism in challenging times and continued their positivity in hope of their family’s success. 

Reading A Kid’s Letter: Youthful Perspectives on Growing up in Los Angeles 

In this letter dated March 23rd, 1931, a young José Miguel told his Uncle Ignacio about his school life, work, and finances in Los Angeles. José Miguel said, “Well I am in fourth grade in June I will go on to the fifth grade. But before I do I must work very hard.” As a boy, José Miguel seemed excited about his financial future and savvy about saving money that he earned from helping his parents at the family store. Through his youthful perspective, he shared the family's potential plans to go to Mexico. José Miguel optimistically proposed, "the money we are saving in the Bank will be for one of two things: a Ford car coach that is a very good car, or else we go by train, Pullman."

This letter, penned by José Miguel’s father, with a post-script noting how his son used Spanish on his own to talk to his uncle, gives insight into a child’s experience of growing up in Los Angeles as part of a big, spread-out transnational family. From José Miguel, his excitement about the future and confidence going into the fifth grade, we learn about his close relationship with his uncle back in Mexico. 

Through hard work and income from the family store, the Venegas family purchased a car in 1928. Young José Miguel and his siblings would go on rides to the beach and local parks with their family.  

“The situation here is critical”: Angelinos’ Struggles During the Great Depression 

In the midst of the Great Depression, Miguel wrote to his father Juan Venegas in Guadalajara, Mexico. His letter depicts a family faced with declining health, a failing store, and the threat of financial crisis during the Great Depression. Miguel commented on the increase of Americans asking for relief money and receiving meals at the Church of Our Lady Queen of the Angels, while Mexican Americans who have lost their jobs "prefer to tighten their belts" and take credit out at the Venegas family store, where they could often not pay back. Meanwhile, Miguel labored tirelessly to keep the store open and care for his family's numerous health problems. Miguel was exhausted but said he did not "have time to also be sick." Through this letter, Miguel stands out as a resilient father and businessman. Between the scrolling lines, we see a man of great dignity and indomitable spirit.

During their early years in Los Angeles, the Venegas family regularly attended mass at the La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles, or the Church of Our Lady Queen of Angels. Also nicknamed as “La Placita” and “Plaza Church,” the historical Roman Catholic Church was an important hub for Mexican American cultural life. 

 

Keeping Family Close: Connecting through Transnational Letters

With perfect, delicate penmanship, Dolores Venegas, the mother of the Venegas family, wrote to her father-in-law Juan Venegas. Dolores expressed financial and health concerns throughout the letter, but she remained positive in regards to her family. It is evident how much she cared for her family as she asked about individual family members in Mexico. She referred to the children as “escuincles”, which is a term equivalent to “troublemakers”, also used to express affection. She indicated how much her family wished to return home even though the Cristero War made it difficult to do so, and she described the fond memories of her children when they visited El Rancho.

Dated February 11th, 1932, this letter is one of many correspondences with the Venegas family in Mexico over a five-year period of frequent family letter exchanges. When they were written, the interpersonal letters kept relationships strong. The letters now keep the family history alive, telling the stories of many transnational families’ close connections despite being apart. 

To hear Rhetorical Arts student Brianna Gaspar read an excerpt of Dolores Venegas's letter, hover over the letter and unmute the audio.

Brothers and Veterans: National Service and Family Pride of Immigrant Families 

Similar to many immigrants with family members serving in the U.S. military today and over the course of history, this photograph is a source of pride and joy for the Venegas family. Pictured here in their U.S. Army uniforms are three of the Venegas brothers who served during WWII: Ricardo, José Miguel, and Guillermo (left to right). Carlos Venegas, the youngest brother, recalled during a conversation with us, “Ricardo was sent to Alaska to build roads and protect the area from possible Japanese entrance...Willy (Guillermo) was sent to the South Pacific where he operated landing craft used to bring personnel and supplies onto the shore of Japan...and Mike (José Miguel) served as a B17 radio operator flying missions out of England over Germany, at one point flying 3 missions in one day across the English Channel to support the D-Day landings.”

This photograph marks the special occasion of all three brothers having returned home after being stationed across the globe. These three Venegas brothers are part of an estimated 500,000 Mexican Americans who served in the U.S. military during World War II, a group of which more than 30 members received a Congressional Medal of Honor. 

Honoring Dolores Venegas: Between the Lines of Congratulatory Messages 

In April of 1969, Dolores Venegas checked her mail to find a letter typed on official White House letterhead from Republican President Richard Nixon and a freshly printed Western Union telegram from Republican California Governor Ronald Reagan. Each contained a message of congratulations on Dolores being named the Mexican Mother of the Year, an award given by the Franciscan Missionary Sisters Guild. Why would top Republican officials personally reach out to Dolores?  

To learn more about the story, we spoke with Dr. Teresa Venegas, Dolores’s only daughter, just weeks before her 90th birthday. Teresa helped contextualize the world in which the award was given: "It was the political correctness of that time that the Latinos were rising in the political arena... this was the right time to honor the Mexican Mother of the Year and the attention was paid in Washington D.C." Fifty-one years later, Teresa still recalled the immense pride her entire family experienced when her mother received this honorable award at the time of Dolores and Miguel’s 50th anniversary.  

Miguel Venegas: Legacies in Zapotlanejo 

In 1973, Miguel and Dolores established a second residence in their hometown, Zapotlanejo in the state of Jalisco, Mexico. During this time, Miguel devoted many hours to the surrounding community to help with projects such as the construction of a school and land donation to a religious community. In recognition of his many years of contribution to his community, a street in the city of Zapotlanejo was dedicated to and named after Miguel Venegas. In 1985, Miguel Venegas was honored as a principal benefactor in collaborating with the Mexican Red Cross to build a hospital for the community. The certificate serves as a testament to Miguel’s love for his community and the impact he had in Zapotlanejo. 

In 1985, the community gathered for the opening of the Red Cross hospital in Zapotlanejo.

Ever-changing Immigration Policies: A Journey Across the U.S.-Mexico Border

The U.S. Department of Justice issued Miguel Venegas this border-crossing card in 1927. The Venegas family relocated at a time when the US-Mexico relationship allowed immigration, because the United States was in need of labor. While the U.S. borders were closed to many immigrants because of the Immigration Quota of 1924, Mexico was excluded from this policy, which enabled individuals like Miguel to come to the U.S. to fill labor shortages. This card is evidence of the ever-changing U.S. rhetoric toward Mexico and the discrepancies in immigration policies. 

By 1929, the United States put a law on the books, the Undesirable Aliens Act of 1929, criminalizing undocumented entry into the country. Words such as “alien” in this context, and as used on Dolores’s Green Card under the Alien Registration Act of 1940, still circulate today in conversations about immigration and remind us that even in this century, we still need to change how we think and talk about transnational individuals as having dignity and rights. 

A Transnational Family on the Map

To visualize the Venegas family journey, click on key locations marked and annotated by students on the map to explore the different places represented in the exhibit objects.

Venegas Family Tree

Rhetorical Arts students Laura Fern and Kylie Vincent created a family tree to share the birth order and birth dates of the ten children of Miguel and Dolores Venegas. By 1963, the Miguel and Dolores Venegas family has expanded beyond 10 immediate family members to over 50, including their 33 grandchildren.  

Between Two Worlds: Lives in Upheaval

In this short video production, Rhetorical Arts students Ansel Austin, Favrin Tomaz, and Megan Yates share the story of the Venegas Family Papers by combining visuals from the collection with narrative about finding this "buried treasure". 


Miguel and Dolores Venegas at the time of their 50th anniversary in 1969

Building this exhibit brought students closer to the stories of the Venegas family and students delved deeper into the perspectives of immigration. The exhibit curation experience invited students to reflect on and enter into Eloquentia Perfecta, the Jesuit rhetorical tradition of the good person speaking well for the good of others.

Students witnessed the good person speaking well for the good of others in the Venegas family, and students endeavored toward Eloquentia Perfecta in their own work. We hope the students’ work will inspire you to explore original materials and learn more about the  Venegas Family Papers in the LMU Digital Collections .

Thank you for visiting the exhibit! You are welcome to sign our virtual guestbook  here .

For questions and comments about the exhibit, please contact  Archives and Special Collections .


Further Reading Recommended by Students 

This exhibit project is a collaboration with LMU students from “Rhetorical Arts: Writing and Speaking for Social Justice” taught by professor Laura Poladian in Fall of 2020 and Rachel Wen-Paloutzian, instruction librarian for Archives and Special Collections. A special thanks to Dr. María Teresa Venegas and Carlos Venegas for their contributions of time and insight to the making of this exhibit. 

Loyola Marymount University

Archives and Special Collections at William H. Hannon Library

Miguel and Dolores Venegas at the time of their 50th anniversary in 1969