Grace & Gumption

In Grace & Gumption: The Women of El Paso, thirteen contributors trace the history of El Paso from the distaff side. The women who settled El Paso faced an unusual reality. In 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo changed the border, and people who were previously citizens of Mexico - living in their native country, speaking their native language - were suddenly citizens of the United States, forced to speak a foreign language. Editor Marcia Hatfield Daudistel gathers together authoritative voices who examine the bicultural identity of this city through the various roles the women assumed: artist and muse, philanthropist, healer, writer, historian, nun, suffragette, and businesswoman. The result is a new look at this city nestled between rivers, mountains, a military base, and Mexico. The women in this volume are just a few who left a legacy in El Paso. Their stories are kept alive through the memories of their families, the oral history of the Comadres, and in the history books. Their accomplishments were hard-won and required courage, persistence, inspiration, and especially grace and gumption. Contributors include Adair Margo, Mimi R. Gladstein, Yolanda Leyva, Nancy Miller Hamilton, Irasema Coronado, Lois Marchino, Deane Mansfield-Kelley, Meredith Abarca, Susan Goodman Novick, Lucy Fischer-West, Brenda Risch, Evelyn Posey, and Daudistel.