These photographs were gathered by film documentarian and producer, Hector Galan, in 1989-1990 during the course of producing the television program, "Los Mineros", for the documentary series, The American Experience for PBS. The collection and the documentary, "Los Mineros," trace the lives of Mexican and Mexican American copper miners in the Clifton-Morenci, Arizona region who worked for the Phelps Dodge Copper Corporation, and their efforts to form a union between the years 1900 and 1950.

The collection consists of scenes of labor organizing by the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), and the International Union of Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers (IUMMSW); the Bisbee Deportations; the repatriation of Mexican miners during the Great Depression; the military service of Mexican Americans in both World Wars; the living conditions of the miners' families; and working conditions in the copper mines and smelters. Also included are original photographs donated by Clinton Jencks, labor organizer for the IUMMSW, who witnessed the 1950-51 "Salt of the Earth" labor strike in Hanover, New Mexico. Jencks' photographs include both original photographs of the strike, as well as photographs taken during the making of the film, "Salt of the Earth", in 1952.

Contains information about Jencks' labor organizing activities with the International Union of Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers (IUMMSW) in the southwest. The collection consists of IUMMSW union memorandums, newsletters, newspaper, magazine articles, and printed matter about Jencks' activities as International union representative of Amalgamated Bayard District Union of Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers Local 890, a union with a predominately Mexican American membership.

The collection includes information about the Empire Zinc strike in Hanover, NM, led by Local 8980, IUMMSW. Also included in the papers is information about the "Jencks Case," the 1954 trial in El Paso, where Jencks successfully fought false charges brought against him by an undercover FBI informant who believed Jencks to be a member of the Communist Party. The collection has been arranged into five series: Jencks Case; Mine Mill Defense Fund; Union Locals; Empire Zinc Strike; Union Newsletters; and Miscellaneous.

Contains the Lopez's political activity and work within the Mexican American community of Phoenix, Arizona. The collection has been divided into four series: Campaign Papers; Chicanos Por La Causa Papers; Miscellaneous Papers; and Newspaper Articles.

As community activists during the period of the Chicano Movement, both Joe Eddie and Rose Marie Lopez have been involved in various ways to make the voice of the Chicano community heard and acknowledged. As a politician and school board supervisor, Joe Eddie was the first Mexican American who served as president of the Phoenix Union High School District governing board. He also served on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors for District #22. He was a founding member of Chicanos Por La Causa, a major advocacy group for the Chicano community in 1967.

Rose Marie has been involved in various educational endeavors within the Chicano community. She served as Assistant to the Director of the Arizona Board of Education; was an elementary school teacher in the Phoenix public schools; and was the founder of the Arizona Forum, a political and educational organization organized to better the socio-economic conditions of Mexican Americans in Arizona.

Consists of legal documents, printed matter and correspondence extending from 1983-1988 and concerning the civil case brought against the Phelps Dodge Corporation by Mexican Americans during the Phelps Dodge copper strike of 1983. The collection is divided into three series: Trial Papers; United Steelworkers of America literature; and Miscellaneous.

Alice Miller was a homemaker and liquor retailer whose business was tear-gassed by the Arizona Department of Public Safety during the labor strike in Clifton, Arizona in 1983. Mrs. Miller, who was eight and a half months pregnant at the time, and her Mexican American customers were inside the store. She and others inside the store filed a civil suit against the DPS, charging that their civil rights were violated. Their case against the DPS was resolved five years later.

MARS, a southwestern art co-operative in Phoenix, Ariz., was formed in 1978 after the Floricanto Culture Week. The group primarily consisted of Mexican Americans. The impetus behind the formation of MARS was to establish an independent exhibition space to display the works of various Chicano/Chicana artists, and to build the Salt River Valley as a cultural center of the southwest. MARS opened its first gallery in south Phoenix in 1981, and later established a satellite gallery at the Fina Cocina Restaurant. Since then, MARS artists have sponsored its annual "La Phoeniquera", a special juried exhibition which has brought attention to the distinctive work of Chicano and Chicana artists of the Phoenix area.

The collection consists of administrative records during the years 1982-1989, and documents the management of the organization and its gallery space. The materials in the collection includes articles, correspondence, grant applications, flyers, exhibit pamphlets, and biographies of some of MARS's artists. The collection is divided into three series: Administrative Records; Exhibits; and Publicity.

Consists of a variety of historical documents and materials which illustrate the history of the Ocampo family, a pioneering and ranching family in Wickenburg, Arizona. The collection consists of personal correspondence; ranching certificates and records; mining claims and deeds; real estate documents; blueprints; postal and greeting cards; family papers; and over 5,000 photographs.

The Ocampos were instrumental in establishing Wickenburg's first public school; its St. Anthony Padua Catholic Church, and the first Wickenburg Town Library. The collection is divided into five series: Personal Papers; Business Papers; Professional Papers; Miscellaneous; and Architectural Plans.

Consists of personal correspondence, printed matter, and miscellaneous items relating to the Phelps Dodge Copper Strike of 1983-86. The collection has been divided into two series: People's Clinic; and Miscellaneous.

Anna Marie O'Leary, homemaker and native of Clifton, Ariz., and her husband, Jorge O'Leary, physician and native of Sonora, Mexico, were key players in leading a major strike against the Phelps Dodge Corp. in the Clifton-Morenci, Arizona region in 1983-1986: she, as an activist and later President of the Morenci Miners Women's Auxiliary (MMWA); and he, as the Phelps Dodge company doctor with a pro-union stand who sympathized with the copper strikers, most of whom were Mexican Americans, and opened his own health care clinic to help them.

When 2300 members of thirteen international unions staged a labor strike against the Phelps Dodge Corp. on July 1, 1983, their most ardent supporters were Anna and Jorge O'Leary. He accused the company of withdrawing health, medical and hospital coverage to striking Mexican American miners and their families as a tactic to pressure them to return to their jobs, and he offered them free medical care at the company hospital. In retaliation, he was fired by PD for his activities. He and his wife opened their own "People's Clinic" to care for the miners' families.

Anna O'Leary, as President of the Morenci Miner's Auxiliary (MMWA), worked with other women to bring attention to the plight of the strikers and their families. She turned the MMWA into one of the few largely Mexican American, working-class women's groups in labor history.

Consists of correspondence, articles, reports, records, appointment books, photographs, and other miscellaneous items which document the activities of Ed Pastor while he was served on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors in Phoenix, and prior to his being elected to the United States Congress, as Arizona's first Mexican American congressman.

Representative Pastor's papers consist of materials on foreign affairs, domestic issues, all of importance to Maricopa County's Mexican American population. A portion of the collection consists of information from Mr. Pastor's first year as Congressman in Washington, D.C. The collection also consists of memorabilia recognizing Congressman Pastor's achievements throughout his various political career, and positions in government.

The collection has been arranged into five series: Maricopa County Board of Supervisors; Personal Papers; Research on Foreign Affairs; Research on Domestic Issues; and Appointment Books.

Consists of correspondence, notes, newsclippings, and miscellaneous items relating to Proposition 106 and the Arizona English Coalition. The collection concerns the work of the Arizona English Coalition and the efforts to defeat the passage of the English Only Law in Arizona, known as Prop. 106.

In 1981, Armando Ruiz became the youngest Mexican American to be elected to the Arizona House of Representatives. He spearheaded efforts to defeat Proposition 106 in the state of Arizona and challenged the English Only Movement. His papers reflect this work.

Consists of articles, correspondence, petitions, and fund-raising material which entails Virginia Yrun's campaign to become the representative for Congressional District 2. The collection is divided into four series: Campaign Documents; Domestic Issues; Arizona Issues; and International Affairs.

Virginia Leticia Yrun is a former educator, lawyer, and is currently an administrator for the Arizona Planned Parenthood in Pima County in Tucson, Ariz.