Millennial members of the Dallas Mexican American Historical League are working to put Oak Cliff on the map.
DMAHL, as the organization is known, has added many new young members, including executive board member Victoria Ferrell-Ortiz of Oak Cliff.
One of the group’s first projects when it was formed in 2008 was to map the Mexican-American neighborhoods of Dallas, many of which have been lost to gentrification and redevelopment.
Oak Cliff was not considered a Mexican-American neighborhood until after the 1970s, when residents who were shoved out of some of the neighborhoods on the map above started moving their households and businesses here.
Ferrell-Ortiz, along with fellow members Jennifer Rangel, Albert Valtierra and Rosemary Hinojosa, are now working to document the history of Oak Cliff as a Mexican-American neighborhood, which hadn’t previously been an area of focus for DMAHL.
They’re pulling together an exhibition at the Latino Cultural Center in September, and they need your help.
Do you have old photos depicting Mexican-American life in Oak Cliff?
If so, DMAHL would like to consider them for their archives and the upcoming exhibit.
The group is also collecting oral histories and looking for people to interview about Mexican-American history in Oak Cliff. Contact them at officialdmahl@gmail.com.
