Papers of Roberto Martinez, Chicano rights activist, political organizer, and director of the American Friends Service Committee's (AFSC) San Diego chapter from 1983 to 2001. The collection documents Martinez's career as an activist, locally in San Diego, as well as on a national level. The majority of the papers are Martinez's subject files on immigration and border issues. The papers also contain Martinez's writings and speeches, and documents relating to his work with AFSC and the Coalition for Law and Justice. Collection contains documents in both Spanish and English.
Roberto Martinez Papers, 1969-2009 (MSS 652)
Extent: 3 Linear feet (8 archives boxes)
Roberto Martinez was born on January 21, 1937, in San Diego, California. He attended San Diego High School and earned a commercial art degree at San Diego City College.
His first position as an activist was with the Roman Catholic Diocese, then later with the Chicano Federation. In 1983 he was chosen to head the U.S.-Mexico Border Program for the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), a Quaker human rights organization. He remained with the AFSC as the San Diego program's director for 18 years until his retirement in 2001.
In the mid-1990s, Martinez collaborated with other organizations to fight Operation Gatekeeper, the federal program that forced illegal immigrant traffic into dangerous mountain and desert terrains that resulted in hundreds of migrant deaths each year. In 2000, Martinez helped start the Ecumenical Migrant Outreach Project after five Latino men were beaten by San Diego high school students. Throughout his career, he fought law enforcement abuses against the Latino and immigrant communities by documenting alleged abuses, filing complaints, and serving on committees like the Border Patrol Civilian Accountability Committee.
Martinez was the recipient of many local, national and international honors, including the Human Rights Watch Award in 1992, the first awarded to a U.S. citizen, and the Ohtli Award, one of Mexico's highest honors.
Roberto Martinez died in 2009.
The Roberto Martinez Papers include correspondence with other human rights activists, notes and documents relating to speeches he gave and events he attended, and subject files containing clippings, notes, and correspondence on topics like farm workers, immigration, law enforcement abuses, human rights at the U.S./Mexico border, militarization, Operation Gatekeeper, and other border-related issues.
The papers are arranged in two series: 1) PERSONAL FILES and 2) SUBJECT FILES.