Bookmark this page or copy and paste URL to Email message Club Sonorense Records 1865-2001MSS-159
Historical NoteIn the early 1900s, Mexican and Mexican American workers and their families came to the Arizona region to work for the Ray Consolidated Copper Company. They founded the community of Sonora in 1907 and a post office was established by 1912. The town of Sonora, which at one time numbered 6,000 residents, was located one mile south of Ray. At that time, residential segregation was common: Euro-Americans lived in Ray, Spaniards lived in Barcelona, and Mexican and Mexican Americans lived in Sonora. A dual wage system was also common, meaning that Mexican and Mexican American workers were paid less than Euro-Americans for the same type of work. Mexican and Mexican American workers relied on their union, the International Union of Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers (IUMMSW) and their local #915 to rid themselves of such iniquities. Sonora prospered as a copper mining community until 1965, when the Kennecott Copper Corporation, Ray Mines Division, destroyed it to develop its open pit operation. Many residents settled in communities nearby, including Kearny, Winkelman, Hayden, and Superior. Former residents of Sonora formed Club Sonorense by 1966 to document and preserve their town's history and to maintain community and familial ties to Sonora, Arizona. The Club became a non-profit organization in 1999 and is registered with the Arizona Corporation Commission. Sources:
Granger, Byrd H. Arizona's Names: X Marks the Place. Tucson: Falconer Pub. Co., 1983.
Lopez, Leonor. Forever Sonora, Ray, Barcelona: A Labor of Love. Author, 1984.
Recuerdos de Sonora. Kearny, Arizona: El Club Sonorense, 1999.
Recuerdos de Sonora II. Kearny, Arizona: El Club Sonorense, 2000.
Scope and Content NoteThis collection houses minutes, correspondence, maps, photographs, a 1940 Ray-Sonora baseball team uniform, and a 1928 medallion of the Benito Juarez Logia #30 documenting Sonora, Arizona and the establishment of the Sonora, Arizona Historical Marker at the ASARCO-Ray Mine viewpoint on Arizona Highway 177 near the original town of Sonora. Also included are family records (including birth, death, marriage, baptism, employment, and school records dating back to 1875) and property deeds showing land in Mexico documenting the family of Sonora natives Virgina and Amador Flores. The collection is divided into five series. Series I: Administrative Papers contains the organizations minutes. Discussions center on the importance of preserving the community's history and on the goals, objectives, and interests of the organization. The minutes range from 1967 to 1996. Series II: Virginia and Amador Flores Family documents a family rooted in Sonora. Included in this series are birth and death certificates, marriage license records, religious records, 1920 Sonora, Arizona census information, and information about Virginia Granillo Flores and her family. These records date from 1875 to 1996. Series III: Memorabilia includes a certificate from a Mexican fraternal organization, a marriage license, and land records from Mexico. These items date from 1924 to 1960. Series VI: Miscellaneous houses copies of Sanborn maps of Sonora, Arizona, silk screen prints of townsites, information about the Sonora, Arizona Historical marker dedication, materials regarding town reunions, recollections of former residents, a medallion from a Mexican fraternal organization, and a Ray-Sonora Tigers baseball uniform. These items date from 1918 to 1999. Also included is Susana Campos Caldera's tribute to her brother, Albert "Boydie" Mercado, a popular baseball player in Sonora. Series V: Photographs houses images of weddings, Mexican Independence Day celebrations, patriotic parades, baseball teams, school children, street scenes, social activities, and veterans who served in wars ranging from World War II to the Persian Gulf. These images date from 1941 to 1991. ArrangementThis collection consists of eight boxes divided into five series:Series I: Administrative Papers Series II: Virginia and Amador Flores Family Series III: Memorabilia Series VI: Miscellaneous Series V: Photographs RestrictionsAccess RestrictionsTo view this collection, make an appointment at least five business days prior to your visit by contacting Ask an Archivist or calling (480) 965-4932. Appointments in the Wurzburger Reading Room at Hayden Library (rm. 138) on the Tempe campus are available Monday through Friday. Check the ASU Library Hours page for current availability. CopyrightThe Arizona Board of Regents retains copyright to this collection for and on behalf of the Arizona State University Library. Requests to publish, display, or redistribute information from this collection must be submitted via our online application. Access TermsPersonal Name(s) Flores, Amador. Flores, Roy C. Flores, Virginia Granillo, 1908-2000. Family Name(s) Flórez family. Corporate Name(s) Club Sonorense -- Archives. International Union of Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers. Local 915 (Sonora, Ariz.). Kennecott Copper Corporation. Ray Mines Division. Sociedad Benito Juárez. Geographic Name(s) Sonora (Ariz.). Subject(s) Historical markers -- Arizona -- Ray. Administrative InformationPreferred Citation[Identification of item], Club Sonorense Records, MSS-159, Arizona State University Library. ProvenancePresidents Steve Chiquete and Jessie Gomez Hill donated official records of Club Sonorense in 1997 (ACC #1997-01839) and 1999 (ACC #1999-02142) respectively. Club member Roy G. Flores donated his coming-of-age account of Sonora, his list of Sonora residents compiled from the 1920 census, and the family records of his mother, Virginia Villa Granillo Flores, in 2000 (ACC #2000-02206). Container List
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