The Heart of the Mission

"Cary Cordova's The Heart of the Mission is a complex, necessary book . . . Cordova's impressive research, which includes extensive archival excavation, artist interviews, and urban fieldwork, reveals an important and previously unexplored history of local activism practiced through Latino poster art, which spread word of the struggles of insurgent movements such as the Nicaraguan Sandinistas; Salvadoran diasporic art; the cultural politics of Día de los Muertos; and the founding of galleries and community art centers."—Journal of American History

"A definitive history of Latina/o art, production and community formation in San Francisco's Mission District."—Social History

"Cordova's excellent book stands as a significant contribution to many fields, and scholars across disciplines will find tremendous value in it."—Western Historical Quarterly

"Cordova tells a deeply compelling story about social and culturaltransformation in the Mission District in the twentieth century. Her book is worth reading for anumber of reasons, not the least of which is that The Heart of the Mission fills important gaps inpopular narratives about the history of California, San Francisco, sixties radicalism, the lineage ofLatino creative culture in America, and even postmodernism . . . [T]he book is a powerful testimony to the historical influence ofSan Francisco's Latino artists and activists on the culture of the city. And, crucially, it contextualizesthe dramatic changes currently sweeping through the heart of the Mission and the fights that arebeing waged to stop them."—H-California

"This is a wonderful book that is felicitously written, passionately argued, and full of information that is otherwise difficult to find. Cary Cordova's study fills a major gap in the current literature on Latino arts movements in the United States, as well as in the cultural history of San Francisco and California."—Richard Cándida Smith, University of California, Berkeley

"Cary Cordova has unearthed some truly fascinating archival material. Challenging the dominance of a certain type of Chicano art and identity politics, she expands the chronology and geography of Latino Art in the United States to include 1950s tango and jazz and contemporary AIDS activism."—A. Joan Saab, University of Rochester