The Spanish-Americans of New Mexico: A Heritage of Pride

Materials upon which this study is based were drawn, wherever possible, from the existing literature. A vast number of reports and analyses was available covering the early periods and the rural Spanish-American culture. However, as the research went forward, it became increasingly clear that many of the most important features of the current socioeconomic and cultural situation of the New Mexican Hispano had seldom, if ever, been documented. Furthermore, the events and processes described in the last chapter have led to the development of certain completely new types of behavior and social structures, most of which seem to be associated with urban, as opposed to rural, life. This chapter will present materials compiled by the author specifically to suggest and partially to fill the gaps in our knowledge concerning the present-day Hispano, the majority of whom lives in cities ( Barrett and Samora 1963:4). Although the stress will be upon the process of urbanization, it will also be apparent that acculturation and assimilation are concomitant products of the modern age.

It should be made clear at the outset that this writer has no desire to become engaged in any polemic regarding the relative value of urban versus rural life. It has been shown in numerous

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