Description
Included in this collection are 5 linear feet of research materials that include county records of marriage, birth and death
certificates, documentation on civil cases, articles and photographs, correspondence, as well as other vital statistics and
genealogical information related to the Punjabi Mexican Americans in California.
Background
In the early twentieth century, men from India's Punjab province came to California to work on the land. The new immigrants
had few chances to marry. There were very few marriageable Indian women available in California, and miscegenation laws and
racial prejudice limited their ability to find white Americans. Discovering an unexpected compatibility, Punjabis married
women of Mexican descent and these alliances inspired others as the men introduced their bachelor relatives and friends to
the sisters and friends of their wives. These biracial families developed an identity as "Hindus" but also as Americans within
intricate religious contexts.
Extent
7.5 Linear feet
(14 manuscript boxes, 1 flat box)
Restrictions
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the
Head of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, California 94304-6064. Consent
is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission
from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner, heir(s) or assigns. See: http://library.stanford.edu/depts/spc/pubserv/permissions.html.
Availability
The materials are open for research use. Audio-visual materials are not available in original format, and must be reformatted
to a digital use copy.