Christine Marin, PhD, Library Archivist, Professor, Historian, Tempe, AZ

Christine Marin, PhD is Professor Emerita and Historian/Archivist at Arizona State University in Tempe. She is the founder of the prestigious archival repository: the Chicano/a Research Collection and Archives at the Hayden Library at Arizona State University. As Adjunct Faculty Associate in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, she taught courses on the history of Mexican Americans for the former History Department and the School of Transborder Studies and the history of Mexican American women and Latinas for the Women and Gender Studies Department. The National Association of Chicana and Chicano Studies awarded Marin its Community Award in recognition of her commitment to the Latino community as an archivist and historian in the field of Chicano and Chicana Studies. Her recent publications include three books of Latina biographies and stories called Latina Trailblazers: Stories of Courage, Hope and Determination, published by the Raul Castro Institute at Phoenix College in Phoenix, Arizona. Her recent articles include “’Get Rid of the Shacks’: West Live Oak Street Redevelopment in Miami, Arizona, 1946-1952.” Journal of Arizona History, Summer 2015, and “Courting Success and Realizing the American Dream: Arizona’s Mighty Miami [Arizona] High School Championship Basketball Team, 1951.” International Journal of the History of Sport, June 2009. 

What led you to your field?

My Chicano history professor at Arizona State University realized my potential as a historian and writer of the Mexican American/Chicano experience in Arizona, an area that needed scholarly attention and discovery. His courses provided me insight on the importance of learning and writing about the topic.

How does what you do relate to historic preservation?

I often consult with historians and scholars on grants related to the history of people of color in Arizona history and teach them how to conduct research on topics that reflect the history of rural areas or copper mining town areas in Arizona. They are budding advocates of community history and are historians in hiding.   

Why do you think historic preservation matters? 

Arizona’s history of people of color stalks us through our past. Rural areas are often neglected by money makers and/or greedy developers who gentrify communities of color and call it “progress.” The voices of small towns are ignored and in place are high-rise hotels or expansions of sport complexes or modern transportation hubs.

What courses do you recommend for students interested in this field?

Courses in the Social Sciences and in Humanities and in Architecture are worth exploring. History, for example, needs students interested in historic preservation of communities facing climate change, environmental destruction, and freeway expansions.

Can you tell us what you are working on right now? 

Two scholarly articles that reflect the history of folks of color in Arizona’s early history, 1900 to about 1930.

Do you have advice for novice preservationists?

Enroll in History courses that reflect themes related to sex, folks of color, and communities near working class neighborhoods.

Where is your "why"? Is there a physical place (building, town, etc...) that inspired you to create the Chicana/o Research Collection at the Hayden Library?

Copper mining towns of Arizona and working-class folks who live and work there inspired me. And continue to do so.

Throughout your career, you have inspired many students to become interested in history. How important is it to you that the youth of today continue to collect, preserve, and archive our stories?

I meet and speak with students from a variety of backgrounds, social classes, etc., and find they want to learn more about working class experiences of those who are their role models. They are smart, know how to use state-of-the-art technology that improves their research and writing skills. They have promise and courage to go forth and improve upon their education. And they are also inspirational.

Read more Q&A Stories about the Preservationists in Your Neighborhood!