Image
Description
This is a wedding photograph of Cruz and Esperanza Martinez in Kansas in 1920. By the 1920s, over 2,500 Mexican people had settled in Iowa. In the following decades, Iowa's Latinx population continued to grow. Between 2000 and 2010, Iowa's Latinx population doubled to 152,317, five percent of the total population of Iowa (3,046,355). By 2010, West Liberty had become the first majority-minority town in Iowa with Latinx people making up over half of its population. Yet, few people realize that this recent development builds on a long tradition of Latinx migration to Iowa.
Source-Dependent Questions
- Look closely at the photo. Describe what you see.
- This is a wedding photograph of Cruz and Esperanza Martinez in Kansas in 1920. By the 1920s, over 2,500 Mexican people had settled in Iowa. Between 2000 and 2010, Iowa's Latinx population doubled to 152,317, five percent of the total population of Iowa (3,046,355). What might account for this long tradition of Latino migration to Iowa?
- By 2010, West Liberty had become the first majority-minority town in Iowa with Latinx people making up over half of its population. What impact might a long tradition of migration have on people from Mexico considering coming to Iowa?
Citation Information
Martinez, Adella, “Esperanza and Cruz Martinez, 1920,” Migration is Beautiful, Iowa Women's Archives, University of Iowa Libraries, 1920. Courtesy of Iowa Women’s Archives