Juana Gallegos Valadez: Immigrant, Traveler

During the 1910s and 1920s in Mexico, the spread of the railroads, the breakup of the hacienda system (akin to feudal farming), and the upheaval of the Mexican Revolution provided means and motivation for many people to move to the cities.

Around 1918, Juana Gallegos moved with her parents from the hacienda her father managed to Mexico City, where the family had political connections.

After President Venustiano Carranza was deposed, Juana and her mother returned to Matehuala and in 1923 emigrated to the United States to escape the ongoing turmoil of the revolution. For more on the experiences of Mexican immigrants, see the Going Global and The People’s Highway: Route 66 sections of this exhibition.

Leaving and Returning: “Nací Mexicana y Me Voy a Morir Mexicana.”

Juana Gallegos joined the exodus of Mexicans to the United States, where jobs beckoned and relief from the upheaval of the revolution made expatriate life seem attractive. But many of the people moving north continued to consider themselves Mexican, returning often to their homeland for extended stays to see relatives and friends. Asked in 1979 whether she intended to become a U.S. citizen, Juana Gallegos Valadez replied: “I was born Mexican and I am going to die Mexican.”