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PLEASE NOTE:

We do NOT have the resources to assist with genealogical research.

For GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH please contact:
 
*UTEP Special Collections Dept

* El Paso Historical Society

*El Paso Public Library Border Heritage Center

For GENERAL RESEARCH  assistance contact Rachel Murphree at murphree@
elp.rr.com

 
For REPRINTS of Borderlands issues please contact Ruth Vise at  rvise@
epcc.edu.

Borderlands Research Guide

Online Catalog (Books and more)
Books on Reserve
Reference Books
Circulating Books
Electronic Books
Articles (Newspaper | Journal/Magazine)
Websites (local archives/organizations,
historical photos
, other)
Vertical File
Other Libraries

Online Catalog 

Use the EPCC Libraries' Online Catalog ( http://lib.epcc.edu ) to find books.  
Suggested subject headings (click on heading to see search result):  
Mexican American Border Region
El Paso Tex History

In addition, here are lists of suggested titles with their call numbers. Click on the title to see the full description and its availability.

Books on Reserve (for class ENGLISH 1302)

400 years in El Paso  
ASARCO El Paso: selected documents on history
(CD-ROM)
Aoy School
 
Border : the U.S.-Mexico line

Borderlands (EPCC students' articles in the E.P. Times) 1991-present
Borderlands articles complete article listing on webpage )
City at the Pass

Concordia Cemetery:  A Walking Tour
 
Cordova Island

Dallas Stoudenmire: El Paso Marshall  +
EBook
Down Went McGinty

El Paso Chronicles: A Record of Historical Events in El Paso

El Paso: A Borderlands History

El Paso:  Guided Through Time

El Paso in Pictures
  
El Segundo Barrio

George Scarborough: The Life and Death of a Lawman. . .

Henry C. Trost: Architect of the Southwest

Historic El Paso

History of Downtown El Paso

History of Jake Erlich and Cleofas Calleros

Las Cruces: An Illustrated History

Last Conquistador:  Juan de Oñate and the settling .

Oxford History of the American People

Pass of the North: Four Centuries on the Rio,,,

Portals at the Pass: El Paso Architecture to 1930

Saga of Billy the Kid

The Shooters: This Unique Chronicle. . .

Smeltertown

Troublesome Border

Turning Points In El Paso Texas

The U.S. Mexico Border: Transcending Divisions ...

Where the Creosote Blooms


Books in Reference

Encyclopedia of the American West   REF F591.E485 1996 (4 vols)
Hispanic Texas: a Historical Guide
  REF F387.H56 1992
New Handbook of Texas
  REF F384.N8 1996 (6 vols)
Texas Almanac
  REF AY311.D3T5
Texas Monthly Guidebook
  REF F384.3.R35 1993  

Circulating Books (can be checked out) 
Also see our list of Southwestern Studies books

Along the Rio Grande   (DVDs)   NW F394.E4A46 
Aoy School
  LA372.A5 M667 2005   
Border Correspondent: ...Writings, 1955-70
(Salazar, Ruben)   F787.S18 1995  
Border identifications: narratives of religion & gender...
  HN120.C48 C538 2005
Border People: Life and Society...
  F787.M36 1994  
Border Visions:  Mexican Cultures,,,
  F790.M5V45 1996  
Cd. Juárez (Paso del Norte)
  also in Ref   F1391.C62M67 2005    
Concise History of Texas
  F386.K58 1991  
Cordova Island
  F394.E4 M67 2002   
Desert Immigrants: the Mexicans of El Paso, 1880-1920
  F394.E4G36 1981  
Dying to cross: the worst immigrant tragedy...
  JV6475.R3613 2005
El Paso Chronicles: A Record of Historical Events...
  F394.E4M479 1993  
El Paso in Pictures
  F394.E4M24  
Frontier Newspaper: The El Paso Times  
PN4899.E4T5 1958  
History of Downtown El Paso
  F394.E4M666  v.1   
History of Jake Erlich and Cleofas Calleros
  F394.E4 M65 2005    
Late Great Mexican Border: Reports from a Disappearing Line
  F787.L38 1996  
Lone Star Guide: Texas Missions
  F387.F68 1999  
Mexican Americans in Texas History
  F395.M5 M485 2000  
Mexican Exiles in the Borderland
  F1234.H453  
Mission Trail El Paso/Juárez
  F389.M57 1996  
Postwar Readjustment in El Paso: 1945-1950
  HC108.E4R46  
Pueblo de Socorro Grant
  F394.E4W49 1986  
Railroads & Highways at the Pass of the North
(also Ref)   HE2781.E4 R34 2005
Ringside Seat to a Revolution: underground cultural history, 1893-1923
 F394.E4 R66 2005
            ( related online essay
El Segundo Barrio
  F394.E4 M667 2001    
Smeltertown
  F394.E4 M668 2004
Standoff at the Border: A Failure of Microdiplomacy
  HE4491.E532P75 1989  
Texas, An Illustrated History
  F386.3.M37 1995  
Texas Rangers: A Century of Frontier Defense
  F391W43 1965  
U.S. Mexico Borderlands : Historical & Contemporary...
  F786.U13 1995  
Women & Other Aliens: Essays from the U.S. Mexico Border
  F395.M5N38 1991
Women on the Texas Frontier: A Cross Cultural Perspective
  F386.M24 1983  


Electronic Books

The online equivalent of the reference book Handbook of Texas Online is available at
http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/ .  It is a multidisciplinary encyclopedia of Texas history, Geography, and culture. It comprises more than 23,000 articles on people, places, events,|  historical themes, institutions, and a host of other topic categories.

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Local and National Newspapers

Begin with local papers first. You'll find the microfilms at the UTEP Library and the Main/Downtown public library branch. If you determine your event had national importance, check the index for the New York Times (1851-2003)  [ Off-campus access ]

El Paso Times under various names runs from 1881-
 
El Paso Herald or El Paso Herald Post under various names runs from 1881-1997
 
The Lone Star ran 1881-1886
 
La Patria (in Spanish) ran from 1919-1925
 
Other Mexican-American newspapers exist on microfilm at the NMSU Library in Las Cruces.  Usually there are only several issues of a paper, and the papers are from the beginning of the 20th century.  Search for the subject: El Paso Tex Newspapers or El Paso County Tex Newspapers. 

Some of these are: El azote, La buena prensa,  El Ciudadano , El clarín del Norte, El defensor, La democracia, El día, Los dos Américas, El hispano-americano, El independiente ,  La justicia,  El latino-americano,  El monitor,  Las noticias,  El observador fronterizo,  El paso del norte ,  El Progresista,  Renacimiento,  Sancho Panza,  El Valle del bravo,  El zurriago.
 
Other short lived English language papers from El Paso are at the NMSU Library:
Commercial review, The Evening Telegram , El Paso weekly tribune, Evening Tribune, Homer Union news (on the petroleum industry), Monday mercury,  The Pass City independent, The southwesterner  (from the 1960s), Ysleta independent.

Journal and Magazine Articles

You can use both indexes in book form or online databases to find articles on the Borderlands.  Two important journals are:

The journal Password covering El Paso history, and is at REF F786 .P28 and its index is online at the El Paso County Historical Society site or at Reference.

American Heritage covering American History, is in the Periodicals Area and issues from 1990 to the present are searchable online in the History Reference Center database.  Also available through Off-campus access.    Index to all the years of publication is on Reserve.  
 
Online indexes for many other journals are available providing access and often the full text of the articles in various areas. While this probably won't yield articles specifically on El Paso, it will provide background information on topics pertinent to our region. 

The full list of databases is available on our Online Databases page . Recommended areas for Borderlands research are:

General Interest databases (covering many topics)
Social Sciences databases (covering history, political science, sociology and more)
Business databases

Use terms such as:
Mexican-American border region
Juárez
El Paso
Borderlands
Juárez El Paso region

Be sure to check the Online Databases MLA Style and APA Style pages to find out how to cite electronic articles.


Websites

Local Archives/Organizations

Along the Rio Grande    circulating DVDs at NW F394.E4A46  This EPCC-TV television series ran from 2000 to 2003 and highlighted local individuals and institutions involved in historical and cultural projects in the greater El Paso area. See description of all the episodes at [http://www.epcc.edu/nwlibrary/arg ].
 
ASARCO El Paso : selected documents vol. 1
Kept at the NW Library Circulation Desk. court hearings, air quality reports, Master's Thesis and much more on CD-ROM and held at the Northwest Community library.  Donated by Taylor Moore, Esq .    
 
Casasola Photography Studio collection (UTEP special collections)
For 60 years Casasola Studio in El Paso, Texas  photographed families in the community, compiling, essentially, a history of the community. The studio closed in the early 1990s leaving a collection of negatives under the care of  the University of Texas at El Paso.    
[http://129.108.99.94:200/casasola/default.htm ]
 
NEW!  Articles on Chihuhuan historical figures (in Spanish) from the Dept of History of the UACJ (la Universidad Autonoma de Ciudad Juarez) [http://docentes.uacj.mx/rquinter/cronicas/artículos.htm]

El Paso County Historical Society   Created and maintained by the Society.  Includes index to Password, the society's local history journal and also an index to the society's archives, including photos.  [http://www.elpasohistory.com
 
 El Paso Inc.   "An El Paso-owned business and lifestyle weekly."  [http://www.elpasoinc.com/]
 
 El Paso.org Photo gallery
Gallery of historical photos maintained by the El Paso Chamber of Commerce.   [http://www.elpaso.org/gallery.asp ]
 
El Paso Public Library Border Heritage Center
The center collects, preserves, and makes available information about the history and culture of the residents of El Paso, Ciudad Juárez, and the surrounding region. 
[http://www.elpasotexas.gov/library/ourlibraries/main_library/border_heritage.asp]
 
El Paso Times
Daily news with seven day archives.  Also includes graphs and statistics from the TX and NM censuses.   [ http://www.elpasotimes.com/
 
Fort Bliss History
US Army Installation Management office.  You may get a message about this site's security certificate.  Click on "continue to this website (not recommended)"   [https://www.bliss.army.mil/garrison/sites/about/history.asp ]
 
Mexican Revolution:  "Countdown to the 100th. Anniversary of the Mexican Revolution - El Paso - Ciudad Juárez: Two Cities that Sparked an Uprise" Jointly organized in 2006 by the sister cities of El Paso and Juárez, this site contains historical photos, detailed walking and trolley tours, lecture series, historical articles and more.  [http://www.elpasotexas.gov/mcad/mexicanrevolution/default.asp ]

Museums in town:  [http://www.co.el-paso.tx.us/history/border_museums.htm]
 

Murals -- Photographs of murals with brief descriptions and locations.
Murals of El Paso , Colors on Desert Walls , and County Courthouse Mural, El Paso Online Mural Project   [http://www.utep.edu/border/mur.html http://www.utep.edu/border/essays/farah/farahmurals.html , http://www.epcounty.com/mural/, http://muralproject.orion-elp.org/index2.htm
 
Newspaper Tree
-- "El Paso's Original News Source"  [http://www.elpasonewspapertree.com]
 
Photo Collections:  Casasola Photography Studio collection (UTEP special collections) ; El Paso County Historical Society  ; El Paso.org Photo gallery ;   El Paso Police Department historic photographs; Murals of El Paso ; Not for Distribution:  Behind the Demolition Plan ( http://www.newspapertree.com ); UTEP Special Collections Photo Database, and the Plaza Theater Photo gallery.  [http://129.108.99.94:200/casasola/default.htm, http://www.elpasohistory.com, http://www.elpaso.org/gallery.asp, http://www.elpasotexas.gov/police/history_groups.asp, http://www.utep.edu/border/mur.html, http://www.newspapertree.com, http://129.108.99.24:200/uttepphotos/default.htm, and http://theplazatheater.org/photo_gallery.sstg]
 
Public Art Inventory
-- City of El Paso  [http://www.elpasotexas.gov/mcad/_documents/060404_ACD_Revised_Public_Art_Inventory.pdf ]
 
UTEP's Institute of Oral History
While focusing on the El Paso-Ciudad Juárez area, the collection also contains interviews dealing with the history of communities all along the U.S.-Mexico border.  Copies of the oral history tapes, transcripts, indexes, and summaries are housed in the Special Collections Department, University Library, UTEP. The public is invited to read transcripts and listen to tape recordings there.  Projects include:   Big Bend National Park , The Chamizal Settlement , African Americans in El Paso , UTEP History , Bracero Oral History Project , Immigration , The Mexican Revolution of 1910 , Border Labor History , Mining In Mexico , Health Care on the Border [http://dmc.utep.edu/oralh/OralHistory.html] 

UTEP's Special Collections Department   Specializing in Southwest and Border Studies collections among others.  Many useful collections, including the John J. Middagh papers , research files of a local newspaper reporter which  were donated to UTEP.  See the Container List for topics in each folder.  Searchable photo database online to find photos from the Mexican Revolution Collection, Dona Ana County Sheriff's Collection, postcard collections. [http://libraryweb.utep.edu/special/special.cfm

Other

American Journeys Digital Collection Eyewitness accounts of early American exploration and settlement.  Great resource.  Search under "find a document" by geographic region, or "advanced search" allows keyword searching through full text of documents . [http://www.americanjourneys.org/ ]
 
Amnesty International reports on the Murders of Women in Juárez
Feb 2006 public statement
Ending the brutal cycle

Intolerable Killings Sept 2003 special report
-- lengthy [http://www.amnestyusa.org/index.html]

ASARCO corporate history in El Paso  Created and maintained by ASARCO, historically one of the largest regional employers.[ http://www.asarco.com/elpasoj.html ]
 
Association for Borderlands Studies
  Complilation of websites for US/Mexico border region.  [http://www.absborderlands.org/linx/linx-mxus.html
 
The Border
Bilingual PBS website accompanying its series on contemporary life along the U.S.-Mexico border.  Includes text of the show, historical timelines and maps and more.  [http://www.pbs.org/kpbs/theborder/index.html ]
 
Border Colonias Region
Data compiled by the Housing Assistance Council (HAC) 1998. [http:/www.ruralhome.org/pubs/hsganalysis/colonias/contents.htm]
 
Border Revolution, 1910-1920
Developed by student Cindy Baxman at the University of San Diego, May 1998.  Includes text and photographs.  [http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/projects/border/page01.html
 
Borderlands Information Center
" ...central clearinghouse and referral center for information about the Texas/Mexico border region."    [http://www.bic.state.tx.us/ ]
 
Colonias Program
Run by the Center for Housing and Urban Development, College of Architecture at Texas A&M University, this website provides research, articles, the Colonias Factbook, resident profiles, pictures, and more.    [http://chud.tamu.edu/ ]
 

El Paso
and Chihuahua information.  Created and maintained by Citi-Guide. 
[http://www.citi-guide.com/texas/elpaso/main.asp and http://www.citi-guide.com/mexico ]

 
El Paso County.  Histories of El Paso and Surrounding Areas
Created and maintained by El Paso County.   [http://www.co.el-paso.tx.us/history/ ]
 

El Paso County History
Section of TXGenWeb and USGenWeb Projects, genealogy sites.  Includes historical maps and brief information on historical towns.  [http://www.rootsweb.com/~txelpaso /]
 
Farmworkers Website / El website campesino
An initiative of the Sin Fronteras Organizing Project, it contains information on El Paso and the Bracero Program of the 1940s-1960s.   [http://www.farmworkers.org/Welcome.html ]  
 
Fort Bliss History
US Army Installation Management office.  [https://www.bliss.army.mil/garrison/sites/about/history.asp ]
 
Handbook of Texas Online
A multidisciplinary encyclopedia of Texas history, geography, and culture. It comprises more than 23,000 articles on people, places, events, historical themes, institutions, and a host of other topic categories.  [ http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/ ]

Historical Text Archive  Publishes high quality articles, books, essays, documents, historical photos, and links, screened for content, for a broad range of historical subjects.  In particular, see the section on the Mexican Revolution  http://historicaltextarchive.com ]

History of Ciudad Juárez   Created and maintained by Borderlines.  [http://www.blines.com/page2.html
 
Institute of Texan Cultures (San Antonio)
  One of the three campuses of The University of Texas at San Antonio, the Institute is an educational center dedicated to enhancing the understanding of the history and diverse cultures of Texas.    [http://www.texancultures.utsa.edu]
 
Jim Janke's Old West
Links to sites covering every aspect of the Old West, which is defined loosely as the legend and reality of 19th Century America west of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers and anything and anybody associated with it, past and present. [http://homepages.dsu.edu/jankej/oldwest/oldwest.htm ]  
 
LANIC U.S. Mexico resources
Very comprehensive listing of resources maintained by the Latin American Network Information Center (LANIC) run by U.T. Austin. [http://lanic.utexas.edu/la/mexico/usmex/]
 
Mexico from Empire to Revolution
  " A Web resource that draws upon the collection of the Getty Research Institute and extends the two-part exhibition held at the Institute between October 2000 and May 2001. Reproduced in the digital resource are cabinet cards, cartes-de-visite, albums, postcards and other forms of photography. The Photographers represented are either Mexican or European or North American. The work of some thirty known photographers is shown, alongside that of many others who remain anonymous. Together they provide a chronicle of Mexico from approximately 1857 to 1923, a chronicle explored in the History and Chronology sections of the resource."  [http://www.getty.edu/research/conducting_research/digitized_collections/mexico/html/index.html ]

No Angel Came Information about the murders of young women in Juárez.  This is a personal site, in contrast to a site maintained by an organization, newspaper, university, etc. so the information here should be verified.  The author provides dates and sources for her information which makes verification easier.  It's a good site for background information.  [http://takenbythesky.net/Juárez/jindex.html

The Open Record Texas history section Texas State Library and Archives Commission newsletter begun in fall 2005.  May include El Paso information.  [http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/theopenrecord/archives/category/texas-history/]

Postcards of the Mexican Revolution Postcards of famous figures in the Revolution along with brief biographical information.  [http://www.netdotcom.com/revmexpc/]

Tox Town:  U.S. Mexico Border Neighborhood Explore a border community to learn about air pollution, drinking water quality, workplace hazards, pesticides, rats and snakes, lead poisoning, backyard trash burning, and many other environmental concerns that may affect one's health. Maintained by the National Library of Medicine.   [http://toxtown.nlm.nih.gov/border/main.htm]

U.S. Latinos and Latinas & World War II Oral histories from UT Austin. May include some local information.   [http://utopia.utexas.edu/explore/latino/index.html

Women and the Mexican Revolution Student written project for the Women's Studies Dept of the University of Arizona.  Includes basics of the Revolution, roles of Mexican women in the conflict and the interactions of some American women with Revolutionary leaders.   [http://www.u.arizona.edu/ic/mcbride/ws200/mex.htm ]  

Yahoo's American West Comprehensive listing of links covering all aspects of the American West.   [http://dir.yahoo.com/Arts/Humanities/History/U_S__History/By_Time_Period/
19th_Century/American_West/]


Yale Collection of Western Americana Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Postcard photographs related to United States military involvement in the Mexican Revolution.  ca. 1910-1917.   WA Photos 307 [http://beinecke.library.yale.edu/dl_crosscollex/buildSRCHXC.asp?WC=N&CN=WA Photos 307 ]

Vertical File

The Borderlands Vertical File is comprised of clippings from the local newspapers, magazines, and other sources.  It covers the local area, sometimes extending to the entire state of Texas, New Mexico, Chihuahua and other parts of Mexico when the material impacts our borderlands.

Other Libraries


El Paso Public Library Border Heritage Center
501 N. Oregon Street El Paso, TX 79902 543-5440
Website: http://www.elpasotexas.gov/library/ourlibraries/main_library/border_heritage.asp
SOL (Online catalog): http://sol.ci.el-paso.tx.us
use the subject headings: Mexican American Border Region or El Paso Tex History

Special Collections, University of Texas at El Paso Library
500 Wiggins Rd. El Paso, TX 79968-0582   747-5672
Website:  http://libraryweb.utep.edu/special/special.cfm
Nugget (Online catalog): http://129.108.99.98
use subject headings: Mexican American Border Region History

El Paso Historical Society
603-605 West Yandell Street El Paso, TX  79903
Website: http:/ /www.elpasohistory.com
Password (their historical journal) and their archives database (useful especially for photos): http://www.elpasohistory.com/search.html

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Research guide created by Monica Wong, monicaw@epcc.edu
Additions by Rachel Murphree, murphree@elp.rr.com
Page last updated:

 

Borderlands is published annually by El Paso Community College, P.O. Box 20500, El Paso, TX 79998. 

It is a collection of student written articles on the history and culture of the El Paso, Juárez, Las Cruces border region, comprising the states of Texas, New Mexico, and the Mexican state of Chihuahua.   This site was created with seed money from the Integrating Technical Contexts into Academic Courses (ITAC) Project, and maintained by the Northwest Community Library staff.  Funds for the program were provided by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board under the auspices of the federal Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act of 1998.  

Ruth Vise, Borderlands Director, EPCC
Monica Wong, Project Coordinator, Head Librarian,  Northwest Community Library,  EPCC
Joe Old, Technical Consultant, ITAC Project
Mary Sarber,  Lorely Ambriz, and Library Staff.
Rachel Murphree, web weaver

Copyright  2001-2008 El Paso Community College