Do you remember taking Spanish in high school? As guest speaker at the January meeting, Dr. Christine Marin explained how Spanish became a major course of study thanks to Gràcia Liliana Fernàndez.
Miss Fernàndez was a bilingual teacher of English and Spanish. She earned a Bachelor's degree in Liberal Arts from the University of Maine in 1898 and then earned the Arizona Territorial Certificate to teach in the Arizona territory. Parents in Apache County wanted their children to receive a good education so they could progress and become successful, but the white teachers didn't understand or speak Spanish. In turn, the children needed to learn English. Gràcia came to fill that gap. The demand for bilingual teachers grew throughout the territory, including in Maricopa County. In time, the president of the Tempe Normal School (now ASU), Arthur John Matthews, hired Gràcia to be the first Professor of Spanish and the first Hispanic librarian of the school. She legitimized Spanish as a major course of study. The students she taught became the new bilingual teachers throughout the Arizona Territory, helping Spanish-speaking children become successful in their schooling and in life.
Gracia was honored in 2020 as inductee in Arizona Women's Hall of Fame.
Dr. Marin, Professor Emeritus, Archivist-Historian at ASU, is the founder of the prestigious archival repository, Chicano/Chicana Research Collection and Archives at the Hayden Library in Tempe.
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| Dr. Christine Marin |
She has won many awards for her work, and she is also the President of the Tempe History Society. She proudly hails from Globe, Arizona where she maintains close ties to the community and was inducted into the Globe High School Hall of Fame.
