25 years
ago, I was a vibrant 52 . . .
Jimmy Carter
was president and advocating a human rights policy designed to provide some
relief for peoples suffering under tyranny and to improve the image of Tio
Sam in Latin America …
Fidel Castro
had been in power for 20 years, and pundits were wondering just how much longer
he could last…
The Sandinistas
were about to overthrow Somoza in Nicaragua - - - they have come and gone…
Pinochet
was still ruling Chile with an iron fist…
But the “dirty
war” in Argentina was winding down, thanks in a large part to the protests
of the “madres de la plaza de mayo”…
The generals
were continuing to run affairs in Brazil…
And it seemed
that Stroessner had been and would be in power in Paraguay forever…
Contrasting
today with then, the situation appears much improved------
In any event,
under such circumstances, MACLAS came into being.
Its origin
sprang from two ideas.
First, Tom
Tirado of Millersville university wrote to me in the fall of 1978 about the
idea of forming an organization of Latin American historians in pa to meet
to share research and present papers.
Second, this
conformed with an idea that had been nagging me. I noted that the Latin American studies association (LASA) had a
number of regional councils:
The New York
council (NYCLAS)….
…..New England
council (NECLAS)…..
………southeast
(SECOLAS)……
….midwest
(MALAS)…..
……………Rocky
Mountain (RMCLAS)…..
….Pacific
coast (PACOLAS)……
But there
was none for the middle Atlantic region, namely, NJ, PA, MD, DE, DC, VA &
WV…..
I wrote to
Tom, suggesting setting up an organization not just of historians, but of
all disciplines and interests and including the entire middle Atlantic region
…. In other words, a LASA regional
council ---- MACLAS.
Tom replied:
“good idea! The ball is in your court.”
And so, we
moved on. We sent out a circular to
scholars and programs in the region, inviting them to a meeting at Penn State
on Saturday, October 7, 1978, to discuss the idea of establishing a regional
LASA council and forming an organizing committee. The response was enthusiastic, and about a dozen persons attended
at their own expense or funded by their institutions. I believe some are in the audience tonight
----please stand and be recognized….
In addition
to those here now, I recall Robert Alexander (Rutgers), Ivo Dominguez (Delaware),
Judy Ewell (W&M), Michael Burke (Villanova), Harvey Summ (Georgetown),
Kathleen Dutt (James Madison), Martin Stabb (Penn state), Dave Myers (Penn
state), and John Martz (Penn state)….
Also attending
was Riordan Rioett (of the SAIS of Johns Hopkins), who at the time was president
of LASA. He was invited as a resource
person to give us guidance and possibly welcome us as a regional….
Joe Criscenti
of Boston College had also been invited as a resource person. He was one of the founders of the New England
council (NECLAS), and we figured he could provide us with tips as to how to
get started. Unfortunately, Joe didn’t
show up. We got a phone call that
he had missed his flight. He got stuck
in traffic on his way to Logan International!
But aside from that glitch, with Reardon's help, we decided to move ahead
and established an organizing committee, consisting of myself, Harvey Summ,
Judy Ewell, Ivo Dominguez, and Michael Burke.
Moreover,
as good fortune would have it, the eighth international meeting of LASA was
scheduled for May 1979 at the university of Pittsburgh. LASA and Pittsburgh were gracious enough to
put the founding meeting of MACLAS on the agenda, providing us with a time
and a place. At that meeting at the
university of Pittsburgh, the constitution of MACLAS was approved, and we
were in business. If any in the audience
were present at that meeting….. Please stand and be recognized……..
Because of
these persons and many others, the early years of MACLAS were extremely easy.
One may refer
to MACLAS as a council or organization, but i prefer “association.” It has been an association of friends and individuals,
who have made MACLAS work:
And in the
beginning, there were a number whom i would refer to as the pioneers and stalwarts:
Robert and Joan Alexander (Rutgers); already
a renowned scholar, right from the beginning bob provided his tremendous prestige
to achieve the purposes of MACLAS; he brought in his colleagues at Rutgers
(Jim Street, Vera green, mark Wasserman, and Yale Ferguson), and made Rutgers
one of the pillar institutions in support of MACLAS;
Ivo and Carmen Dominguez; Ivo, my successor
as the second president of MACLAS, in the same way as bob made the University
of Delaware another of the pillars of MACLAS, involving his colleagues, John
Deiner, Judy McInnis, and Gladys Ilarregui; Delaware has supported this council
in so many ways.
Jack child and Leslie Morginson-Eitzen;
Jack has been a stalwart, contributing his unique talents. Before many of us knew anything about personal
computers, much less e-mail and desktop publishing, Jack was into computers
and brought the MACLAS newsletter into being.
I can’t recall a MACLAS annual meeting without an audio-visual presentation
by Jack, in order to enhance our teaching methods. He and Larman Wilson made American U. another
of the pillars in support of MACLAS.
…and talk about early stalwarts; the contributions
of Pope Atkins (the naval academy), Judy Ewell (W&M), Harvey Summ (Georgetown),
Asunción Lavrin (Howard), Mike Burke (Villanova), Winthrop Wright (Maryland),
Hal Greer (VCU), and Eufronio Carreno (Kean University) as officers and conference
hosts cannot be overstated.
…and then along came Alvin and Ellen Cohen;
Alvin, a purveyor of the dismal science, worked some kind of magic to make
the financial status of MACLAS sound. Furthermore,
he helped make Lehigh University one of the strongest supporters of MACLAS,
involving Jim Saeger, Hannah Stewart-Gambino, and Frank Gunter, among others.
…and add Ursinus as another pillar institution
in support of MACLAS, thanks largely to Juan Espadas and Tom Gallagher, who
also took over responsibility for the newsletter early on. Juan and Bob Alexander also gave birth to the
MACLAS Essays, recognizing the outstanding papers presented at the MACLAS
meetings.
And speaking
of the Essays, the ninth president of MACLAS, Vera Blinn Reber (Shippensburg),
served as editor for numerous volumes. I have fond memories of Vera for another reason.
I remember that she and John Offner brought their daughter, Stella,
to our meetings. Stella was just a toddler when she first came
to our meetings. Now, she’s a young
lady, having grown up with MACLAS.
…and in our life cycle, some of the pioneers
are no longer with us:
Jim Street (Rutgers)
Vera Green (Rutgers)
Harvey Summ (Georgetown)
John Martz (Penn state)---our fourth president
Juan Espadas (Ursinus)---who can forget
Juan's hearty laugh?
Joseph (“Joe”) Graham (who faithfully accompanied
his son Reid to our annual meetings and with whom I enjoyed many conversations
during our banquets)
As MACLAS
developed in the early years, we established prizes in order to recognize
achievement and promote the goals of MACLAS: the Arthur P. Whitaker prize
for best book; the Harold Eugene Davis prize for best article in a journal;
the James Street prize for best MACLAS essay; the John Martz prize for best
paper presented by a graduate student at the annual meeting; and the Juan
Espadas prize for best paper presented by an undergraduate student at the
annual meeting.
And we have
developed and grown in other ways, expanding our region to include New York
(given the disbanding of its own regional) and even Ontario, welcoming David
Sheinin and Trent University
…I have confined my reminiscences largely
to the first decade of MACLAS, but I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge
that new leaders and institutions have stepped forward to support MACLAS.
While the list of individuals is too long to name, permit me at least
to recognize the present officers and newsletter editors:
John Incledon (Albright), Barbara Tenenbaum (Library of Congress),
Anna Adams (Muhlenberg), Judy McInnis (Delaware), David Sheinin (Trent), Reid
Graham (Library of Congress), and Maria Riegger (Mary Washington).
[council members: Carolyn Bell (Kutztown,
Ken Lehman (Hampton-Sydney college), John Stole-McAllister (UMBC), Brian Turner
(RMC), Joan Marx (Muhlenberg), Elizabeth Espadas]
As for institutions,
along with the continued support of Rutgers, Delaware, Lehigh, American, and
Ursinus, we have Albright, Bucknell, Kutztown, Shippensburg, Mary Washington
College, Howard University, VCU, Muhlenberg, IUP, and the Hispanic division
of the Library of Congress. If I've
missed any, I'm certain Elizabeth [Espadas] will help me out.
Given the growing Hispanic population of the United States, Latin American
studies takes on an added dimension and importance, and it is gratifying to
see that MACLAS remains up to the task.
Thank you.