April 17, 2024 Laura Hooton
Noon Talk
Little Liberia: Seeking Black Power and Profit in the BorderlandsLaura Hooton, David J. Weber Fellow for the Study of Southwestern America
12 noon to 1 PM
The Texana Room, Fondren Library, 6404 Robert S. Hyer Lane, SMU
Little Liberia was an African American agricultural-focused social movement in Baja California in the early twentieth century. As the movement expanded, its reliance on the U.S.-Mexico borderlands between California and Baja California remained central to its evolving goals. In this talk, Little Liberia will serve as a poignant example of how African American history is interwoven with other histories and narratives of the American West, Baja California, and the U.S.-Mexico borderlands.
Laura Hooton is this year’s David J. Weber Fellow for the Study of Southwestern America. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2018 and is assistant professor in the Dr. Arnoldo De León Department of History at Angelo State University (ASU). Her research focuses on African Americans in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands, immigration and migration, social movements, and comparative race and ethnicity in the American West. During her time at the Clements Center, Laura will complete work on her manuscript, “Black Baja: Little Liberia and the Fight Against White Supremacy,” under contact with Oklahoma University Press in their Race and Culture in the American West series.
Image: Littlejohn on horse, Ebony Magazine, 1952
Free and open to the public. No reservations necessary. Questions? Email swcenter@smu.edu.
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