Latin American Programs at the American Historical Association Meeting in New York, December 28-30, 1960. By Hugh M. Hamill, Jr.
In addition to the convivial reception for Latin American historians on the afternoon of December 29, two excellent sessions of special interest to members of the profession were held on Friday, December 30.
The first of these was an academic session jointly sponsored by the American Historical Association and the Conference on Latin American History. Charles C. Griffin of Vassar College presided and also commented on the three papers read on the general theme: “The Anatomy of Twentieth-Century Revolution in Latin America.” In a crowded hall three scholars presented a distinguished set of papers on the Mexican, Bolivian, and Cuban Revolutions.
Howard F. Cline, Director of the Hispanic Foundation of the Library of Congress, began the session with his assessment of “Mexico: A Matured Latin American Revolution, 1910-1960.” From purely political motivations at its outbreak with Madero in 1910, Dr. Cline pointed out that the credos and ideals of the Mexican Revolution have broadened to include social, economic, and cultural matters. In the course of the Revolution developments in ideologies and events have been uneven. Between 1917 and 1933 the main focus was on political life, but during the Cardenas administration, 1934-1940, social and, especially, agrarian reforms became most vital. From 1940 to the present the shift has been towards balanced industrial growth. “For fifty years the ideology of the Revolution has been eclectic, elastic, pragmatic. No Marx, no Engels provided a cut-rate, pre-fit ideology.” Under the “Institutional Revolution” since 1940 a second generation of leaders has accepted the often Utopian objectives of earlier phases but have emphasized harmony, a directed economy, and national unities rather than class struggle and state socialism as bases for policy. “The role of the President has changed from charismatic caudillo to chairman of the board, both of party and of country.” Militarism has declined and teachers now out-number soldiers. Mexican goals remain autodetermination, liberal democracy, Big Government, and nationalism. The major Revolutionary hopes, summarized in Articles 3, 27, and 123 of the 1917 Constitution, are being implemented, but by less doctrinaire means so that the Revolution has almost imperceptibly passed into normal evolution. The absence of predetermined ideology, plus alternatives, compromises, and contradictions in the 1910-1917 credos of the Revolution have permitted a salutary flexibility and continuity of the Revolution. Cline stressed particularly that social transformation was one of the most fundamental facets of the Mexican Revolution. In fifty years the size of the “popular classes” has diminished proportionately from 90% to between 40% and 50% of the country. Of greater importance is the strong trend toward social mobility and the burgeoning of a vigorous middle class. In sum, “with an enviable record of accomplishments in the face of formidable obstacles the present heirs of the Mexican Revolution feel that their own darkest days are behind them” and “that they have important experience to impart to other Latin American nations as well as the newly emerging lands of Africa and Asia.”
Richard W. Patch of the American Universities Field Staff was unable to leave South America in order to read his paper “The Bolivian National Revolution.” His colleague in the field of Anthropology, John V. Murra of Vassar College, presented Patch’s paper and defended it skillfully in the question period.
After arguing that there have been few revolutions deserving of the name in Latin America, Dr. Patch maintained that a true revolution occurred in Bolivia in 1952 and its consequences continue to be felt. The revolution triggered such extreme measures as nationalization of the tin mines, a sweeping agrarian reform, neutralization of the army, and a universal franchise; but the party leaders of the monolithic MNR (Nationalistic Revolutionary Movement) who accomplished the revolution are essentially moderates.
The most reported result of the revolution is the present serious economic situation of the country, with declining productivity and inflation. But the major accomplishment of the revolution has been social—the effective integration of the Indian-speaking majority of the population into the social and political life of the nation. This has resulted more from the organization and self assertion of this majority than from the direct intent and action of the revolutionary government.
Bolivia was headed for revolution after the overthrow of the durable and conservative Liberal party in 1920. The Chaco war gave the “Indians” a new vision and it also created discontent within the army. Military governments attempted programs of national socialism which failed. In the resulting confusion civilian governments also failed to consolidate power. By 1952 the only party able to control the situation was the once discredited but then popular MNR, which seized power.
The MNR undertook radical reforms, but not—at first—reforms which could not be reversed. The irreversible change was the rise of the peasants as a powerful force, largely independent of the government, which brought pressure on the MNR to advance agrarian reforms.
Bolivia has maintained close ties with the United States and its shattered economy functions only with American aid and assistance. But the subsidized stabilization of the economy has not been accompanied by sufficient development to offset the austerity of rising prices and controlled wages. To continue as a democracy rejecting the apparent advantages of totalitarianism Bolivia needs additional help and understanding.
David D. Burks of the University of Michigan’s Dearborn Center had the difficult task of presenting a paper on a “Newly Fledged Revolution: Cuba, 1959.” In his approach, Dr. Burks was careful to limit his survey to the period up to June 1960.
The figure of Fidel Castro is central to an understanding of the Cuban revolution. As a self-confident charismatic leader, Fidel has adroitly built a cult of personalismo which is based on his Christ-like appearance and hypnotic oratory. “Shaving his beard might deprive him, Samson-like, of much of his power.” Fidel’s revolutionary vision was unfolded during his trial in 1953 following the abortive Moncada barracks attack. Much of his class-conscious attack on the wealthy and his program for industrial, agrarian, and educational reform have been realized since he came to power.
After the rebels established themselves in Oriente during December 1956, Fidel set out to impose his moral leadership over the other enemies of the Batista regime. With Oriente guajiro support, the gradual if grudging affiliation of middle and upper classes, and since only Fidelista guerrillas were in the field, Castro was able to dominate the exiled opponents of Batista. His victory over them was won in November, 1957, when he rejected the efforts of the anti-Batista Council of Liberation to select a provisional president. Fidel was successful in imposing his own candidate, Manuel Urrutia. To coat the bitter pill of his increased authoritarian tactics Castro paid lip service to democratic ideals. Thus Fidel held the moderates in feud until his triumph over Batista was complete on January 1, 1959. By this time, “Castro had overwhelming popular support with which to build a dictatorship.”
In the months which followed, Fidel consolidated his power, purged the military, departed from moderate democratic means, and began to control the press. Miró Cardona’s resignation as Premier and Fidel’s assumption of the post in February was an indication of political realities. By October, 1959, the nucleus of a civilian militia appeared. Although organized to protect the nation from real and imagined threats of invasion, the militia became primarily a weapon of political coercion.
The extreme goals of social and economic revolution were only gradually revealed so as not to “arouse wide-spread resistance before the regime was fully secure.” Agrarian reform became the key to the new regime. In order to manage the largest part of the Cuban economy the Instituto National de Reforma Agraria was formed in May, 1959. With subsequent intervention of private holdings “purposely placed in a context of class war.…, it should be apparent that the Fidelistas are economic determinists and, in fact, Marxists—loosely defined.” Burks maintained that Fidel long rejected Communist offers of support but in the summer of 1959, finding that some of his own followers were too free in their criticism, he began to use Popular Socialists, members of Cuba’s Communist party, “in key middle and lower level positions.” Thus, “mushrooming Communist influence in Cuba’s government has affected the very warp and woof of the revolutionists’ policies.”
The nationalist and economic determinist qualities of the Fidelista leaders have directly influenced Cuban foreign policy. While the United States was not without reproach in her relations with the Batista regime, “Fidel’s difficulties with the United States were largely of his own making.” Perhaps Castro “needed a devil with which to frighten the Cuban people in order to make his regime secure.” Cuban efforts to join the neutralist bloc, however, have been unavailing; Fidel’s courtship of Russia and China and his attacks on American imperialism are too obvious.
Whatever becomes of the 26th of July Movement, Cuba’s revolution will rank "with other great social reform movements of modern Latin America.”
In his comment, Chairman Griffin sought to compare the revolutions discussed. Agrarian reform; nationalization of private domestic and foreign-controlled resources; stress on education; and varying degrees of nationalism characterize all three. Even in these, however, differences appear as in the efforts to make compensatory payments for expropriated property in Mexico and Peru and the absence of such efforts in Cuba. Griffin pointed out that Mexico’s ideological flexibility offered other Latin American states the model of an open society, whereas the Cuban commitment to Marxism offered a totalitarian way to the achievement of social justice. “The most important question we can ask today is: Which path will Latin America take in the years to come ?” In a lively question period particular attention was given to the problems of expropriation and the management of American relations with Cuba during 1960. Herminio Portell Vila, a Cuban exile from the University of Havana, criticized the emphasis on the role of the 26th of July Movement in the overthrow of Batista.
Later in the day, Irving A. Leonard of the University of Michigan presided over approximately 100 members and guests at the luncheon session of the Conference on Latin American History. Mrs. Ruth Lapham Butler was guest of honor. In his forceful address Stanley J. Stein of Princeton University illuminated "The Tasks Ahead for Latin American Historians.” The problems raised by “mal-distribution and underutilization of land and other natural resources, economic nationalism, the inadequacy of parliamentary government” were evaluated. Stein called upon his colleagues to examine more closely the dynamic interrelationships of landed estates, industrial growth, regional specialization, urbanization, the role of United States economic penetration, and the intervention of the state in the economic sphere since the end of the eighteenth century. While his emphasis was economic, Stein stressed the need for closer study of the political power of elite groups and their failure to meet the challenges of the twentieth-century revolutionary increase of “participation of the masses in the political process.” Appropriately enough Stein was rewarded for his efforts by receiving the James A. Robertson Memorial Prize of $100 for his article on “The Historiography of Brazil: 1808-1889” (HAHR, May 1960). Robert A. Potash of the University of Massachusetts received honorable mention from the Robertson Prize Committee for his article on “The Historiography of Mexico Since 1821” (HAHR, August 1960). John Tate Lanning of Duke University awarded the Herbert Eugene Bolton Prize of $300 to Chairman Leonard for his book Baroque Times in Old Mexico, published by the University of Michigan Press. The Bolton Prize is made possible by an annual grant from the Pan American Foundation, Inc., Gainesville, Florida, of which A. Curtis Wilgus is the Director. The officers of the Conference for 1961 were announced as follows: John J. Johnson of Stanford University, Chairman; Hugh M. Hamill, Jr., of Ohio Wesleyan University, Secretary-Treasurer; elected members of the General Committee: Charles W. Arnade of the University of Florida and Thomas F. McGann of the University of Texas.
Sociology at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia. An important step toward full recognition of sociology as a discipline and profession in Latin America was taken on November 21, 1960, when the Academic Council of this University promoted to the rank of “Facultad” the two-year-old Department of Sociology. Under the direction of Orlando Fals-Borda (Ph.D., Florida, 1955), the new Facultad enjoys all academic and administrative prerogatives. The University of Colombia is the first in Latin America to grant to sociology the highest academic rank (in six other Latin American universities there are institutes or schools of sociology annexed to other entities).
The Facultad is adding a new wing to its building on the University campus, in order to lodge the staff and about 100 students who have indicated this year their desire to study sociology. The first “Licenciados” will receive their diplomas in 1962; and in 1963, after five years of training, the first nationally-trained professional sociologists will graduate. Post-graduate studies will also be offered. The Facultad has received the assistance of the Rockefeller Foundation, UNESCO, and other entities for the realization of these plans.
After almost two years as director-general of the Ministry of Agriculture, during which time the Colombian Government’s agrarian reform plans were laid out, Dr. Fals-Borda resigned in September, 1960, in order to devote his full time to the launching of the new Facultad and to continue his teaching and research. Besides him, the staff of the Facultad at present includes Drs. Virginia de Pineda and Roberto Pineda, previously Guggenheim Fellows who studied at Berkeley; Father Camilio Torres, a sociology graduate from the University of Louvain (Belgium); Dr. Andrew Pearse, an English sociologist who specializes on the Caribbean area; and Dr. Robert C. Williamson, on leave from Los Angeles City College with a Fulbright appointment.
The Facultad will appreciate the remittance of reprints and books for its library, and wishes to thank those colleagues who have already done so. It also offers to exchange publications with its own monograph series (seven numbers to date). The address: Facultad de Sociología, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Ciudad Universitaria, Bogotá, Colombia.
Professorships of the OAS. The OAS has decently announced a program of OAS Professorships to complement the fellowship program which has functioned since 1958. The purpose of the program is to provide specialists in the serious fields of learning for universities and graduate schools. The terms will range from a minimum of three months to a maximum of two years.
Inquiries should be directed to the División de Becas y Cátedras de la OEA, Departamento de Cooperación Técnica, Pan American Union, Washington 6, D. C. Dr. Javier Malagón is director of the new program.
The second annual Arizona Historical convention, sponsored by the Arizona Pioneers’ Historical Society and the University of Arizona, was held March 16-18 in Tucson. The 250th anniversary of the death of Father Eusebio Kino, founder of the first Arizona missions, was observed. The University of Arizona Library prepared an exhibit of rare Spanish and Mexican maps and documents.
From March to November, 1960, the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba sponsored a series of seminars on the 150th Anniversary of the Revolución de Mayo. A number of distinguished Argentine historians participated in the program. A series of documents and monographs on the subject are to be published.
Parral Archives. Arizona Silhouettes, Publications, of Tucson, Arizona, and Micro Photo, Inc., of Cleveland, Ohio, have announced completion of the project to microfilm and index the Archivo de Hidalgo de Parral. The more than 300,000 manuscript pages of this archive are primarily concerned with northern New Spain, and contain much ethnological, archaeological, sociological, economic, and historical material previously little used by scholars. A copy of the microfilm is in the new library which the Sociedad Benjamin Franklin built in Parral. The negative is in the possession of Micro Photo, Inc., 1700 Shaw Avenue, Cleveland 12, Ohio, which will quote prices and prepare positive copies on request.
Society for the History of the Discoveries. This society was founded during the annual meeting of the American Historical Association in New York, December 28-30, 1960, as an outgrowth of the International Congress for the History of the Discoveries, Lisbon, September, 1960. The founders hope for a systematic exchange of information regarding current scholarships, collections of documents, availability of grants, and similar news. Current plans include the publication of a journal devoted to research articles and reviews and the initiation of a regular series of publications of specialized studies and documents. The scope of the society includes all aspects of the expansion of Europe.
At the first meeting an executive board was constituted, consisting of Oswald P. Backus, III, University of Kansas; Bailey W. Diffie, City College of New York; Thomas E. Goldstein, City College of New York; Charles E. Nowell, University of Illinois; John Parker, James Ford Bell Collection, University of Minnesota; James T. Reilly, Providence, Rhode Island; W. W. Schmokel, New Haven, Connecticut; Vsevolod Slessarev, James Ford Bell Collection; E. Washburn, Smithsonian Institute. Thomas Goldstein was elected president and John Parker secretary for the current year.
Persons interested in joining the society or in offering suggestions should write to John Parker, Curator, James Ford Bell Collection, University Library, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis 14, Minnesota. The next meeting will be held in connection with the annual meeting of the American Historical Association in December, 1961.
The Pan American Union and New York Public Library, have announced an agreement with G. K. Hall and Company, 97 Oliver Street, Boston, Massachusetts, to compile and publish a quarterly Index to Current Latin American Periodicals in the humanities and social sciences.
Necrology Dr. Roscoe R. Hill, historian and archivist, died on October 26 in Washington, D. C. In the 1920’s Dr. Hill served as United States High Commissioner in Nicaragua and Chairman of the Nicaraguan Mixed Claims Commission. He taught at Columbia, George Washington, and New York Universities, and contributed many articles on Latin American history and archives, and he edited the journals of the Continental Congress for 1787-1789. In 1946, he retired from his post in the. National Archives.
Dr. Emiliano Jos Pérez, formerly professor in the Centro de Estudios de Historia de América de la Universidad de Sevilla, died in Seville on January 13, 1961.
Justine Whitfield Diffie, born, Clarksville, Tennessee, on December 7, 1902, died in New York City, January 23, 1961. Mrs. Diffie was educated in Transylvania University, Lexington, Kentucky. In 1923 she entered the United States Civil Service in Washington, D. C. Two years later she transferred to Oporto, Portugal, where she worked in the American Consulate until 1927. In that year, she was sent to Madrid, Spain, where she met her husband to be, Bailey W. Diffie, and they were married in Paris in 1928. Thereafter they collaborated in the study of the history of the Iberian Peninsula and its colonies. After returning to the United States in 1929, they were sent to Puerto Rico by the American Fund for Public Service. Their study of the island, published in 1931, appeared under the title of Porto Rico: A Broken Pledge. The next twelve years were spent in the preparation of Latin American Civilization: Colonial Period, which was published in 1945. Mrs. Diffie also published poetry and special features in her own name from the time of her college years, and was engaged in the writing of a biography of Mme. de Sévigné at the time of her illness and subsequent death. Her last published work will be an article on Mme. de Sévigné which will appear in Colliers Encyclopedia.
She is survived by her husband, her son Whitfield, and two sisters.
