Memory and identity. The recovery of the educative history of Rancheria Juarez through its habitants

Abstract

Academic literature provides enough elements to validate historic research as a contributing factor in people’s cultural identity and as a society’s collective memory rescue process, however, the products involved in this process are scarce. In this paper, we present the results of research financed by the “Programa de Apoyo a las Culturas Municipales y  Comunitarias” (PACMyC), aimed towards the rescue of the educative and social history of the common land “Rancheria Juarez”, located in the municipality of Chihuahua, Chihuahua. Its main purpose is to bring forth the process that transformed a rural community into an urban one, through the recovery of oral testimony of its inhabitants. The methodology used in this recovery is through in-depth interviews, field work in family and school archives as well as secondary sources related to the topic. The final product is a printed book destined towards third-grade alumni, which will help them in selected historical topics related to the community.