ETHN 3120: CHICANO/A/XS IN THE UNITES STATES – FALL 2023
TITLE:
MEChA Letter: To The President Of The University Of Toledo
MEET THE DOCUMENT:
This is a question that is very interesting to explore. If I were to explain this letter to someone who can’t see it, I would summarize it as unassuming. It may seem odd to describe this item, but when looking at it, it wouldn’t pop out as something important to me. It is a basic letter document on white paper. Even looking at how it was formatted gives me the feeling it was done by a student, like something I could create if I were the student who created it. However, just because it was made more than likely by a student, the way the paper was created establishes a sense of professionalism. I could not depict the exact font when looking at the chosen font. Nonetheless, when looking at the letter, it is noticeable that they use a serif font. To me, serif fonts give off a sense of professionalism. The font is fancier and more appealing due to the extra lines added to the different parts of the letters. However, some fancier lines run into other letters because of the choice to use serif fonts. In addition, with this, some of the words are fainter in ink than others. I presume this is due to less efficient technology being used to type the letter and old age. Beyond looking at the font, the letter is formatted professionally as well. An appropriate amount of indentation is used and aids in separating different sections of information for the reader to go back to find and reference other parts of the letter.
OBSERVE ITS PARTS:
When looking at the document and its contents, I can say that someone in the MECHA organization wrote it. This means that it was more than likely a student. I say this from the context of who was in MECHA as well as the formatting of the letter. The letter directly informs us who the letter is for when it states, Dear President Driscoll. The letter mentions two dates. At the top of the top of the page it has the date “February 16, 1973”. This date, to me, with context to the letter, is when this letter was typed and more than likely sent. The second date I found in the letter was February 4, 1973. I believe this date was when they came together to put together their ideas to be sent to President Driscoll. When looking at the next question, I cannot say precisely where it was created. I would assume it would have been created by someone on the University of Toledo campus or within Toledo. In the article, it appears to show that it was sent to University Hall 350. It provides further information on the address when it states 2801 W. Bancroft Street and Toledo, Ohio 43606.
TRY TO MAKE SENSE OF IT:
When looking at the letter, I believe it discusses what the University of Toledo could do to help those in the Mexican community better. The letter includes several “resolutions” that MECHA believes would be beneficial. The author wrote this for several reasons. More than likely, the individual may have been in a position within MECHA that would give them the responsibility of writing this letter. However, it is possible they had someone who did not hold a title also write this paper. It would have been more than likely edited by a second pair of eyes before being sent out as well due to the importance of the letter. When looking at the next question, it is essential to look at what was happening at the time of the creation of the letter. When looking at the letter, it becomes apparent that during this time, the Latino community had less access to resources to attend college. This is evident in the letter when MECHA asks for full and partial scholarships and work-study programs for needy Mexican Americans who show promise for undergraduate and advanced work at the University. In addition, another quote from the letter shows that the Latino community had less access to resources to be able to attend college states, the hiring of a particular Mexican American recruiter in the Office of Admissions to actively recruit Mexican American students at the University of Toledo.
USE IT AS HISTORICAL EVIDENCE:
I would say that there are several aspects about MECHA that I have learned from this letter that I would not have learned anywhere else. One aspect would be how organized MECHA is. MECHA is organized enough to pull off two functions only organized groups can do. One of these is that they can ask for “resolutions” from a large university like the University of Toledo. Another aspect about MECHA I have learned from this letter that I would not have learned anywhere else is how MECHA communicated with the University of Toledo. By the existence of this letter it shows that the organization used letters to communicate with the University. This is likely not the only form of communication they utilized to talk to the University of Toledo. However, the letter shows that during this period, sending letters of this nature was appropriate and what an organization of this type should do. It is interesting to compare this to how organizations today would communicate with a large institution. When looking at the next question, I look at further archival information to see if there are more letters of the same nature as this one. By doing this, you can compare what MECHA is asking for in different years to see if what they have asked for has been implemented. This will help me understand how successful MECHA is as an organization.