This research guide provides general information related to the history of colonias in our region. The purpose of this research guides is to offer students historical context though access to primary source materials available from the UTRGV University Library Special Collections & Archives as well as highlighting relevant secondary (books) and external (websites) resources.
Colonias are economically distressed areas that often lack the most basic necessities, such as drinkable water, sewer systems, paved roads, and safe, sanitary housing. While colonias are found all across the state of Texas, the majority are found in counties that border Mexico.
In the 1950s, small lots were sold at low prices, often with high interest rates to low-income individuals as Contracts for Deeds. These lots often lacked infrastructure and access to publicly provided utilities like electricity, water and wastewater. The Texas legislature began taking action in the late 1980s - 1990s, as awareness of the unsanitary living conditions in these economically distressed areas grew due in part to the actions of elected officials like Kika de la Garza, Alex Moreno, and Ruben Hinojosa.
As a result, Texas counties were required to follow certain guidelines before providing water and sewer funding to colonias and a department was created at the state level to oversee colonias. Between 2005 and 2007, the state legislature adopted the Colonia Classification System, created a progress-tracking system of state funded colonia improvement projects, and approved additional funding for improvements.
Collection contains articles, clippings, flyers, brochures, maps, and other ephemera collected by the Library Special Collections on topics concerning the Lower Rio Grande Valley Collection pertaining to the geographic region of southern Texas and northeastern Mexico. Many of these materials are protected by U.S. Copyright Law.
The collection mainly consists of expenditure reports for houses and lots in Colonia Esperanza and Subdivision #1 in Elsa.
The Congressional Papers of Eligio "Kika" de la Garza consist of approximately 425 linear feet of materials dating from 1965 - 1996. The bulk of the papers date from 1965-1980 and 1989-1996. The papers were created during Kika de la Garza's time as an elected official in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1965 - 1996, representing the 15th Congressional District in South Texas.
The Congressional Papers of Rubén Hinojosa consists of 291 linear feet of materials dating from 1997 - 2016. The papers were created during Rubén Hinojosa's time as an elected official in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1997 - 2016, representing the 15th Congressional District in South Texas. The collection consists of legislative material as well as casework of local projects and issues.
The research guides compiled by UTRGV staff and students are intended to assist patrons who are embarking upon new research endeavors. Our goal is to expand their knowledge of the types of resources available on a given topic, including books, archival materials, and websites. In so doing, our compilers have taken care to include collections, digital items, and resources that may be accessed not only through UTRGV but also via other institutions, repositories, and websites.
We wholeheartedly respect the research interests of others. Therefore, please contact us if you wish to submit a resource for consideration, or if you have a question about or an issue with a specific cited resource.
Batos, Bolillos, Pochos, and Pelados by
A classic account of life on the Texas-Mexico border, Batos, Bolillos, Pochos, and Pelados offers the fullest portrait currently available of the people of the South Texas/Northern Mexico borderlands. First published in 1999, the book is now extensively revised and updated throughout to cover developments since 2000, including undocumented immigration, the drug wars, race relations, growing social inequality, and the socioeconomic gap between Latinos and the rest of American society--issues of vital and continuing national importance. An outgrowth of the Borderlife Research Project conducted at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Batos, Bolillos, Pochos, and Pelados uses the voices of several hundred Valley residents, collected by embedded student researchers and backed by the findings of sociological surveys, to describe the lives of migrant farmworkers, colonia residents, undocumented domestic servants, maquiladora workers, and Mexican street children. Likewise, it explores social, racial, and ethnic relations in South Texas among groups such as Latinos, Mexican immigrants, wealthy Mexican visitors, Anglo residents or tourists, and Asian and African American residents of South Texas. With this firsthand material and an explanatory focus that utilizes and applies social-science theoretical concepts, the book thoroughly addresses the future composition and integration of Latinos into the society and culture of the United States.
The colonias factbook : a survey of living conditions in rural areas of South Texas and West Texas border counties by
The Texas Department of Human Services (OHS) conducted a needs assessment in the colonias (substandard rural subdivisions) of the Lower Rio Grande Valley and El Paso County from February through April of 1988.
The assessment's purpose was to gather information about the colonias and colonia residents for use in planning for future need for OHS resources.
A secondary purpose was to provide information to groups both inside and outside OHS for the development of plans to address the colonias' problems.
Survey results indicate that colonias are rural and unincorporated subdivisions characterized by substandard housing, inadequate plumbing and sewage disposal systems, and inadequate access to clean water. They are highly concentrated poverty pockets that are physically and legally isolated from neighboring cities.
Colonias in the lower Rio Grande Valley of south Texas : a summary report by
A Report by The Lower Rio Grande Valley Policy Research Project The Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs The University of Texas at Austin 1977
The Informal and Underground Economy of the South Texas Border by
Much has been debated about the presence of undocumented workers along the South Texas border, but these debates often overlook the more complete dimension: the region's longstanding, undocumented economies as a whole. Borderlands commerce that evades government scrutiny can be categorized into informal economies (the unreported exchange of legal goods and services) or underground economies (criminal economic activities that, obviously, occur without government oversight). Examining long-term study, observation, and participation in the border region, with the assistance of hundreds of locally embedded informants, The Informal and Underground Economy of the South Texas Border presents unique insights into the causes and ramifications of these economic channels. The third volume in UT-Pan American's Borderlife Project, this eye-opening investigation draws on vivid ethnographic interviews, bolstered by decades of supplemental data, to reveal a culture where divided loyalties, paired with a lack of access to protection under the law and other forms of state-sponsored recourse, have given rise to social spectra that often defy stereotypes. A cornerstone of the authors' findings is that these economic activities increase when citizens perceive the state's intervention as illegitimate, whether in the form of fees, taxes, or regulation. From living conditions in the impoverished colonias to President Felipe Calderón's futile attempts to eradicate police corruption in Mexico, this book is a riveting portrait of benefit versus risk in the wake of a "no-man's-land" legacy.
Crisis on the Rio Grande by
With the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) looming large and imminent, this book explores the socio-economic fabric of the U.S.-Mexico border region as a measure of NAFTA's future. It presents the social and economic history of the Lower Rio Grande Valley on the Texas-Mexico border.
Informality and the City by
This book advances the agenda of informality as a transnational phenomenon, recognizing that contemporary urban and regional challenges need to be addressed at both local and global levels. This project may be considered a call for action. Its urgency derives from the impact of the pandemic combined with the effects of climate change in informal settlements around the world. While the notion of "the informal" is usually associated with the analysis and interventions in informal settlements, this book expands the concept of informality to acknowledge its interdisciplinary parameters. The book is geographically organized into five sections. The first part provides a conceptual overview of the notion of "the informal," serving as an introduction and reflection on the subject. The following sections are dedicated to the principal regions of the Global South--Latin America, US-Mexico Borderlands, Asia, and Africa--while considering the interconnections and correspondences between urbanism in the Global South and the Global North. This book offers a critical introduction to groundbreaking theories and design practices of informality in the built environment. It provides essential reading for scholars, professionals, and students in urban studies, architecture, city planning, urban geography, sociology, anthropology, cultural studies, economics, and the arts. As a critical survey of informality, the book examines history, theory, and production across a range of informal practices and phenomena in urbanism, architecture, activism, and participatory design. Authored by a diverse and international cohort of leading educators, theorists, and practitioners, 45 chapters refine and expand the discourse surrounding informal cities.
Cinco Colonias Areas: Baseline Conditions in the Lower Rio Grande Valley by
This report is the first phase of an ongoing project to evaluate the physical, organizational and policy efforts to improve living conditions in two baseline in two colonias where efforts are planned and three comparable colonias where no programs are currently planned. The first phase of research involves the collection of data regarding current conditions in the five locations. The research reported summarizes the baseline data collected through personal interviews. These social surveys of colonia residents will determine existing conditions and service delivery levels. This baseline information will be used to assess current conditions and to compare with conditions after the interventions are underway.
Wastewater facility plan, DeAnda & Saenz Colonias : final report by Third world colonias : lower Rio Grande valley, Texas by
ABSTRACT: This report is concerned with colonias in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas. They are found on both sides of the Texas-Mexico border from the area around El Pado in the Upper Rio Grande Valley to Brownsville in the Lower Valley. This study is based on 1) data gathered from published sources, which are not extensive; 2) interviews with persons from both the public and private sectors who have studied or worked on colonias; and 3) data gathered through the analyses of remote sensing imagery and field investigations, including interviews with colonia residents.
Quality of life perceptions among residents of rural unincorporated subdivisions in Hidalgo County, Texas. by
The Rio Grande Valley of South Texas has the distinction of leading the nation in poverty and unemployment. The population of the area is growing rapidly due, in part, to the continued influx of immigrants from Mexico and Central America. Most new immigrants to the area establish residence in one of hundreds of rural unincorporated subdivisions known as colonias. The culture of the colonias is strong and influences residents' decisions. As colonias become more populated, their influence is seen in the surrounding communities.
The purpose of this study was twofold: (1) to obtain benchmark data regarding the quality of life perceptions held by colonia residents in South Texas and (2) to utilize this information to formulate a set of recommendations that policy makers, local officials, agency administrators, and adult educators can implement in cooperation with colonia residents to improve the quality of life in South Texas colonias.
Explore the links below:
Maximize your time and effort. Let our staff assist you with finding and accessing resources online.
We also invite you to schedule an appointment to meet one-on-one with a member of our Special Collections & Archives staff. Schedule an on-campus research visit or choose to meet online (video chat).
