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Alternate Title
Chicano Male Unbonded Series
Artist
Harry Gamboa Jr., born 1951
Sitter
Rodolfo Acuña, born 18 May 1932
Date
2000
Type
Photograph
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
Image: 33 × 22.2 cm (13 × 8 3/4")
Sheet: 35.4 × 27.9 cm (13 15/16 × 11")
Topic
Exterior
Costume\Dress Accessory\Eyeglasses\Sunglasses
Rodolfo Acuña: Male
Rodolfo Acuña: Education and Scholarship\Educator\Professor
Rodolfo Acuña: Education and Scholarship\Scholar\Historian
Portrait
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; acquisition made possible through the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center
The civil rights activism of the late 1960s transformed not only society but also the field of education. The struggle of communities of color to achieve full participation in American democracy came hand-in-hand with the demand for universities to begin addressing key historical experiences that had been omitted in traditional American history. Rodolfo Acuña was at the forefront of this effort. A product of the Mexican American civil rights and cultural affirmation movement known as the Chicano Movement, Acuña earned a PhD in history and in 1969 led the establishment of the pioneering Chicano Studies Department at California State University, Northridge, where he taught for four decades. He has authored numerous books, including the foundational Mexican American history survey Occupied America: The Chicano’s Struggle Toward Liberation (1972). This photograph is part of Harry Gamboa Jr.’s ongoing series Chicano Male Unbonded, which appropriates the aesthetics of Hollywood crime dramas to portray accomplished Chicano men.
Nacido en Los Ángeles, California
El activismo por los derechos civiles a fines de los años sesenta transformó no solo la sociedad, sino también el campo docente. La lucha de las comunidades de color por lograr plena participación en la democracia estadounidense vino de la mano con el reclamo de que las universidades comenzaran a estudiar experiencias históricas cruciales que hasta entonces se habían omitido en la historia tradicional del país. Rodolfo Acuña estuvo a la vanguardia de este esfuerzo. Acuña, producto del movimiento pro derechos civiles y afirmación cultural de los mexicoamericanos conocido como Movimiento Chicano, se doctor en historia y en 1969 lideró la fundación del pionero Departamento de Estudios Chicanos de la Universidad Estatal de California en Northridge, donde fue profesor durante cuatro décadas. Ha escrito numerosos libros, entre ellos Occupied America: The Chicano’s Struggle Toward Liberation (1972), un estudio fundamental de la historia de los mexicoamericanos. Esta foto forma parte de Chicano Male Unbonded, una serie en curso de Harry Gamboa Jr. que incorpora la estética de los dramas policíacos de Hollywood a retratos de chicanos eminentes.
