Contributed by Louis P. Tellez, World War II Veteran
             New Mexico American GI Forum, a U.S. Veterans
                          of Foreign Wars Family Organization
 

        American before Plymouth Rock   |  Advocate of Civil Rights
Honors Bestowed Senator Chávez    |  Intro Bill to protect Indian Land
         His years in the lower House   |  Pictures of the Senator

After World War II because of the discrimination practices Hispanic Veterans were encountering,  Senator Dennis Chávez made front page news when he stated that:

We are "Americans" when we go to war, and when we return, we are "Mexicans".

Mr Dennis Chávez was elected to the House of Representatives in 1930, and to the Senate in 1935, where he served until his death on November 18, 1962.

Fincher E.B. The Mexican American. New York: Arno Press, 1974. 

Lujan, Joe Roy. "Dennis Chávez and the Roosevelt Era, 1933-1945." Ph.D. dissertation,
University of New Mexico, 1987. 

Pickens, William H. "Bronson Cutting vs. Dennis Chávez: Battle of the Patrones in New
Mexico, 1934." New Mexico Historical Review 46 (January 1971): pp. 5-36. 

Pickens, William H. "Cutting vs. Chávez: A Reply to Wolf's Comments." New Mexico
Historical Review 47 (October 1972): pp. 337-359. 

Seligmann, G.L., Jr. "The Purge That Fails: The 1934 Senatorial Election in New Mexico, Yet
Another View." New Mexico Historical Review 47 (October 1972): pp. 361-381. 

Vigil, Maurilio and Lujan, Roy. "Parallels in the Career of Two Hispanic U.S. Senators."
Journal of Ethnic Studies 13 (Winter 1986): pp. 1-20. 

Wolf, T. Phillip. "Cutting vs. Chávez Re-Examined: A Commentary on Pickens; Analysis." New
Mexico Historical Review 47 (October 1972): pp. 317-336.

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The Defense of America, Americans of Hispanic Heritage