A Minnesota-Mexico Dialogue: Martin County, MN

Abstract

Martin County, Minnesota is located in Southern Minnesota. Due to aging of the general population combined with the need for manual labor in the agriculture and food processing industries, Martin Country has a growing population of younger Mexican/Mexican Americans. During the summer of 2010 I joined with Dr. Patrick J. McNamara to contribute to a broader research project entitled, "Minnesota Mexico Dialogue." Our objective in this project was to better understand the historical and current context of Mexican migration in a local setting. Furthermore, how migration itself is a dialogue between and within communities. To accomplish this, I conducted (1) archival research at the Martin County Historical Society and (2) oral histories with Mexican Americans, Mexican immigrants, migrant workers, and Hispanic business owners in Martin County. While my aim was broad--to uncover any surviving history of Mexican migration to Martin Count--I came across an article in a 1931 Sentinel Newspaper that captured my full attention and became the full focus of my research. A Mexican laborer on a beet farm shot and killed the county sheriff, and in response, was killed by a posse of townspeople, shot by 15 bullets. I examined and analyzed the press coverage of this event as well as editorials written by ordinary citizens. The question that I asked is; How was this event used to shape Anglo perceptions of Mexican people in the 1930s in Martin County, MN?