Chicanas Changing History: The First 100 Symposium at the University of Michigan was a two-day event that explored how Chicana historians have transformed the way we do and understand history, as well as who is included in U.S. history. The symposium highlighted the challenges Chicana historians have faced and continue to confront in the academy and celebrated their outstanding accomplishments and contributions to the field of history, with a particular focus on alumni and faculty from U-M. At this convening, we celebrated the official launch of the digital archive of The First 100: Chicanas Changing History, which is maintained at the University of Michigan Library in Ann Arbor. The digital oral history archive is complemented by the project’s material artifacts, which are housed at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.
The Chicanas Changing History symposium featured opening remarks by Dean Rosario Ceballo, a keynote lecture by U-M alum Dr. Natalia Molina, panel discussions, public receptions, an exhibition tour of La Raza Art and Media Collective, 1975 – Today, at the University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA), and a ribbon-cutting to officially launch the digital archive at the U-M Library.
Through oral histories, data collection, exhibitions, and public programs, this project honors the contributions of the first 100 Chicanas to earn doctoral degrees in any field of history. It is also an intervention: interrogating the academy’s organizational culture that systematically excludes Chicanas is at the core of this initiative. The First 100: Chicanas Changing History was founded by Dr. Lorena Chambers, who received her doctorate from the History Department at the University of Michigan.
Participants included John Carson, Rosario Ceballo, Lorena Chambers, David Choberka, Elizabeth Cole, Raevin Jimenez, Jim Leija, Earl Lewis, Natalia Molina, Edras Rodriguez-Torres, George Sánchez, ToniAnn D. Treviño, and Félix Zamora Gómez.
Chicanas Changing History: The First 100 Symposium was organized by the Inclusive History Project, the Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies, the U-M Library, the University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA), and UMMA’s exhibition, La Raza Art and Media Collective, 1975-Today. It was presented in partnership with the LSA Latina/o Studies Program, LSA Department of American Culture, Stamps School of Art & Design, and the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies.
Check out The Michigan Daily’s coverage of the symposium.
Event Schedule
Day 1
Thursday, February 20, 2025, 4:00pm – 7:00pm at University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA), 525 S. State St., Ann Arbor, MI, USA 48109 (View map)
4:00pm – 5:30pm
Welcome, opening remarks, and introductions by Elizabeth Cole, Jim Leija, Dean Rosario Ceballo, and John Carson
Documenting Our Place in History keynote lecture by Natalia Molina
Q&A
5:30pm – 7:00pm
Reception with light fare in the Vertical Gallery
Exhibition tours of La Raza Art and Media Collective, 1975–Today by co-curators David Choberka and Félix Zamora Gómez
Day 2
Friday, February 21, 2025, 10:30am – 2:00pm at Hatcher Graduate Gallery, Hatcher Library North, First Floor, Room 100, 913 S. University Ave., Ann Arbor, MI, USA 48109 (View map)
10:30am
Opening remarks by Earl Lewis
10:35am – 11:45am
Session 1: Panel discussion
Building Archives, Documenting Our History – Why is it Critical?
Panelists: Lorena Chambers, Raevin Jimenez, Natalia Molina, and ToniAnn D. Treviño
11:45am – 12:15pm
Lunch (served onsite and open to all)
12:15pm – 1:15pm
Session 2: Presentations
The Significance of The First 100 Oral History Project to Our Future
Presenters: Edras Rodriguez-Torres and George Sánchez
Ribbon Cutting Ceremony to officially launch the opening of the digital archive at the U-M Library
1:20pm – 1:30pm
Closing remarks by Elizabeth Cole
1:30pm – 2:00pm
Closing reception