Roughly 25 attendees gathered at the Iowa City Public Library Tuesday to hear Cynthia E. Orozco, national League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC, historian and award-winning author, discuss Iowa’s role in the history of the oldest Hispanic and Latino American civil rights organization in the U.S. 

The event was livestreamed and co-sponsored by the University of Iowa Women’s Archives, the American Studies department, and the Iowa City Public Library. 

Founded in 1929, LULAC is the nation’s oldest and largest Latino civil rights organization, advocating for political representation, educational access, economic opportunity, and cultural visibility. With councils in 47 U.S. states and Puerto Rico, LULAC works to support Latino communities through local chapters, national policy work, and scholarship programs.

Orozco is the author of several books, including “No Mexicans, Women, or Dogs Allowed: The Rise of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement,” as well as a professor emeritus of history and humanities at Eastern New Mexico University.

Orozco visited Iowa City to dig into the state’s LULAC history — much of which is housed in the University of Iowa’s Women’s Archives at the Main Library — and to study the roles of Iowa councils and the women who led them. 

Drawing from those records, she highlighted leaders like Anne Vasquez, the first female state director in the Midwest, and Susanna Fabron, the first female district director, noting women have propelled LULAC’s mission for nearly a century.

“The distinctive thing about LULAC women, those I have known during the short time that we of the Midwest have been in LULAC, is that they are always interested in people,” Orozco said during her presentation. “This liking for and concern about people has had a tremendous part in producing the unique philosophy that we have in LULAC.”

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Orozco also discussed the importance of keeping photos, documents, and council records safe and accessible, adding that one of the reasons she was excited to come to Iowa was because she thinks the state has “the second-best archival collections in the country.”

“We need more historians,” Orozco said. “We need people to do that deep research and get in there.”

Her presentation drew scholars, archivists, students, and community members who had personal or familial ties to LULAC. Stephanie Sagal-Cordova, a third-year student at the UI and a member of the collegiate LULAC council, shared how meaningful it was to see her community represented during Orozco’s presentation.

“We’re really motivated by [Orozcos’s] words,” Sagal-Cordova said. “It’s a different perspective, because we might be Iowans, but then again, I didn’t know anything about LULAC before I joined. So it’s really cool to see how far we’ve come. There’s just so much room for expansion, and I think the next generation will definitely have an impact.”

Orozco said LULAC’s mission is about electing leaders who support Latino interests and expanding economic and cultural opportunities.

“We need more representation in the media and cultural representation,” Orozco said. “It’s still the same issues almost 100 years later. Obviously, we’ve had so much progress, and LULAC is responsible for so much of that progress.”

Anna Holland, associate curator at the Iowa Women’s Archives, said Orozco is “exactly the kind of person” who she’d like to see working with the Iowa LULAC archives. 

“We are so honored to have Dr. Orozco come and spend some time with the materials here,” Holland said. “I really look forward to seeing what she does with them, and as she said, what historians will do in the future.”