My Abuelita was known for telling tall tales, but one intriguing family story was too fantastic to believe. It depicted the Mexican Revolution and my great-grandmother’s poor peasant family escaping its wrath. It told of a race across the desert, north towards the Rio Grande and a plea to cross to the safety of the United States. The American Soldiers, however, refused to open its gates until death was on the heels of the hundreds of women and children gathered on a bridge over the Rio Bravo. Had this really occurred, or had our family tale been stretched after each retelling? Over forty books of the greatest historical works on the Mexican Revolution couldn’t give me an answer, but one source invited me to witness the event.
Alda P. Dobbs discusses helping attendees help community members, particularly students, explore the origins of personal family stories by emphasizing the use of state and local historical archives for a more detailed and efficient search. Attendees are encouraged to help their communities seek stories and develop ways to share them – through writing, storytelling, or scrapbooking – before they are lost forever.
Alda P. Dobbs is the author of the new novel Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna. She was born in a small town in northern Mexico but moved to San Antonio, Texas as a child. Alda studied physics and worked as an engineer before pursuing her love of storytelling. She’s as passionate about connecting children to their past, their communities, different cultures and nature as she is about
