Lydia R. Otero is an Chicanx/Latinx historian and author. They are known for their work on marginalized communities in Arizona.

Lydia Otero
Academic background
Alma materUniversity of Arizona
ThesisConflicting visions: Urban renewal, historical preservation and the politics of saving a Mexican past (2003)

Education and career

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Otero descends from the first family to have a land grant in Arizona.[1] Otero was born in Tucson in 1955 and lived there until graduating from high school in 1973.[2][3] Otero received a bachelor's degree in 1992 and a master's degree in 1995 from California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA).[4] In 2003 they earned a Ph.D. from the University of Arizona.[5] Otero was a tenured professor in the Department of Mexican American Studies Department at the University of Arizona (2003-2020).

Academic work

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Otero is known for their work on ethnic studies, latinx urbanization and placemaking in latinx communities. In the 1980s Otero was president of Gay and Lesbian Latinos Unidos and Lesbianas Unidas, politically active groups in California.[6][7][8] Otero has participated in local activism to remind people about Tucson's past and connection to Mexico,[9] and examined the impact on people living in neighborhoods targeted for urban renewal.[10] In 2010, their book La Calle: Spatial Conflicts and Urban Renewal in a Southwestern City focused on an urban renewal project in Tucson, Arizona which targeted the most densely populated eighty acres in the state and the changes that occurred during the project.[11] The book received a 2011 Southwest Book Award from the Border Regional Library Association,[12] and was reviewed by multiple scholarly publications.[13][14][15][16] In 2019 their book, In the Shadows of The Freeway: Growing Up Brown & Queer, combined personal memoir and family history with historical archives. In 2021, the Pima County Library selected the as one of their annual 44th "Southwest Books of the Year",[17] and the book was reviewed by the Los Angeles Review of Books[18] and the Journal of Arizona History.[19]

Selected publications

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  • Otero, Lydia R. (2010). La calle : spatial conflicts and urban renewal in a southwest city. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. ISBN 978-0-8165-2888-2. OCLC 617461667.
  • Otero, Lydia R. (2019). In the shadows of the freeway : growing up brown & queer (First ed.). Tucson, Arizona. ISBN 978-1734118001.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Otero, Lydia R.; Cammarota, Julio (2011-10-01). "Notes from the Ethnic Studies home front: student protests, texting, and subtexts of oppression". International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education. 24 (5): 639–648. doi:10.1080/09518398.2011.600267. ISSN 0951-8398. S2CID 143564585.

Awards and honors

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In 2019, Arizona’s César E. Chávez Holiday Coalition awarded Otero the "'Sí se puede' Legacy Award" for their activism and scholarship focusing on bringing awareness to the history of Arizona and Mexican Americans.[20] In 2021, Otero was named a distinguished lecturer by the Organization of American Historians.[21][22]

References

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  1. ^ Portillo, Jr., Ernesto (2016-01-09). "Pioneering Otero family will hold reunion this weekend". Arizona Daily Star. pp. A006. Retrieved 2022-03-12.
  2. ^ "Child of Tucson barrio hits on class, gender, race themes". Arizona Daily Star. 2021-02-28. pp. E1. Retrieved 2022-03-12.
  3. ^ "Otero, continued". Arizona Daily Star. 2021-02-28. pp. E4. Retrieved 2022-03-12.
  4. ^ "Lydia R Otero | UA Profiles". University of Arizona. Retrieved 2021-02-21.
  5. ^ Otero, Lydia R. (2003). Conflicting visions: Urban renewal, historical preservation and the politics of saving a Mexican past. The University of Arizona. hdl:10150/280374. OCLC 1118675292.
  6. ^ Faderman, Lillian; Timmons, Stuart (2006). Gay L.A. : a history of sexual outlaws, power politics, and lipstick lesbians. New York: Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-465-02288-5.
  7. ^ The Oxford encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United States. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005. ISBN 978-0-19-515600-3.
  8. ^ Podolisky, Robin (29 December 1988). "Linkage". LA Weekly. Retrieved 2022-03-12.
  9. ^ "Tucson won't remove Pancho Villa statue, despite conservative group's request". NBC News. 17 December 2018. Retrieved 2022-03-12.
  10. ^ Bregel, Emily (May 1, 2018). "Diane Keaton buys adobe in Tucson's Barrio Viejo for $1.5 million". Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved 2022-03-12.
  11. ^ Rosenblum, Mort (2012-02-20). "An American City Disappearing Before My Eyes". The New York Times. Retrieved 2022-03-12.
  12. ^ "BRLA 2011 Southwest Book Awards". BRLA 2011 Southwest Book Awards. 2011. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  13. ^ Goodman, Adam (2013). Otero, Lydia R.; Perales, Monica (eds.). "The Promise of New Approaches and Persistence of Old Paradigms in Mexican American History". Journal of American Ethnic History. 32 (3): 83–89. doi:10.5406/jamerethnhist.32.3.0083. ISSN 0278-5927. JSTOR 10.5406/jamerethnhist.32.3.0083.
  14. ^ González, Jerry (2012). "Review of LA CALLE: Spatial Conflicts and Urban Renewal in a Southwest City". Southern California Quarterly. 94 (3): 389–392. doi:10.1525/scq.2012.94.3.389. ISSN 0038-3929. JSTOR 10.1525/scq.2012.94.3.389.
  15. ^ Sandul, Paul J. P. (2012). "Review of La Calle: Spatial Conflicts and Urban Renewal in a Southwest City". The Public Historian. 34 (1): 134–136. doi:10.1525/tph.2012.34.1.134. ISSN 0272-3433. JSTOR 10.1525/tph.2012.34.1.134.
  16. ^ Joyce, Barry (2012-12-01). "Lydia R. Otero, La Calle: Spatial Conflicts and Urban Renewal in a Southwest City". Winterthur Portfolio. 46 (4): 308–309. doi:10.1086/669749. ISSN 0084-0416.
  17. ^ "A new year, a new Southwest Books of the Year!". Pima County Library. February 1, 2021.
  18. ^ Yacono, Candice (2020-04-13). "Freeway Dreams". Los Angeles Review of Books. Retrieved 2022-03-12.
  19. ^ Burns, W. James (2020). "In the Shadows of the Freeway: Growing Up Brown and Queer by Lydia R. Otero (review)". Journal of Arizona History. 61 (3): 726–729. ISSN 2689-3908.
  20. ^ HERNANDEZ, LIANE (March 15, 2019). "TUCSON WOMEN TO BE HONORED AT DOLORES HUERTA CELEBRACIÓN DE LA MUJER". Arizona Daily Star. Archived from the original on May 30, 2020.
  21. ^ Kelty, Bennito L. (October 11, 2021). "Author & historian Lydia Otero to headline Pima Library's annual LGBTQ+ talk". TucsonSentinel.com. Retrieved 2022-03-12.
  22. ^ "OAH Distinguished Lecturer Profile | OAH". www.oah.org. Retrieved 2022-03-12.
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