On Monday, Mar. 2, at 2 p.m., Lone Star College-North Harris is hosting Dr. Marie Theresa Hernández, University of Houston associate professor Department of Modern and Classical Languages, World Cultures and Literatures. Dr. Hernández will be speaking about her book, "Cemeteries of Ambivalent Desire, Unearthing Deep South Narratives from a Texas Graveyard" in the college's Continuing Education Building, room CE-101, located at 2700 W.W. Thorne Drive, Houston. The event is free to the community and is sponsored by Mexican American Studies and Title V.
Dr. Hernández's presentation reviews the history of Mexican Americans in Southeast Texas-which is told through the story of an old Mexican cemetery in Sugar Land, Texas. The cemetery, which was established just before the Civil War, was first used for slaves, then for prison laborers and in the early 1920s became the burying place for Mexican workers that immigrated from central Texas or northern Mexico.
Known as San Isidro Cemetery, these five acres of land have been the source of multiple clashes between neighbors that populated the new subdivision that now surrounds the graveyard. The tension between the two groups symbolizes the clash between southeast Texas' agrarian society with its plantations and sharecroppers; and the late twentieth century master planned community that wants to erase the past of the land on which their homes were constructed.
Dr. Hernandez is a nationally renowned presenter and widely published author with interests in history, religious studies, ethnography narrative, literary criticism, Latin American Studies, and Latino Studies.
For more information, call Professor Bertha Ibarra Parle at 281.618.5546.
Lone Star College-North Harris is located at 2700 W.W. Thorne Drive, one-half mile south of FM 1960 East, between Aldine-Westfield and Hardy Roads. For more information about the college, call 281.618.5400 or visit: NorthHarris.LoneStar.edu.
Lone Star College System consists of five colleges, including CyFair, Kingwood, Montgomery, North Harris, and Tomball, six centers and Lone Star College-University Center. It is the largest college system in the Houston area, and third largest community college district in Texas. To learn more, visit LoneStar.edu.