La Sociedad
Author: José A. Rivera
Publisher:
Published: 2010
Total Pages: 192
ISBN-13: 9780826348944
DOWNLOAD EBOOKIn 1900 Celedonio Mondragon and several other residents of the San Luis Valley in southern Colorado formed La Sociedad to help prevent the usurpation of Hispanic land ownership and to combat discrimination against wage laborers. The organization rapidly grew to include sixty-five local concilios (lodges) in Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. Hispanic mutual aid societies provided such services as financial aid, low-cost insurance, burial funding, and fraternal support. La Sociedad consolidated these relief and support services and became a powerful force in helping families survive the transformations wrought by the influx of Anglos, the federal government, and new technologies. In the early twentieth century, the federal government became the primary welfare service provider for rural communities, but La Sociedad has survived in the Southwest, continuing its traditions of fellowship and support. --