In the late 19th century photography became a popular medium and so 20th century wars are well documented. This collection is from the Yale University Library. You can see 300+ images with the link below, but I’ve also highlighted a few images that are especially resonant with the novel Like Water for Chocolate. Some of these images are particularly resonant with current debates about immigration, proving these debates are older than they are often assumed to be.

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“Mexican-American Border Region–Pictorial works” – It should be unsurprising that the U.S. saw the Mexican Revolution as a threat, especially with the U.S. Civil War only two generations past. Additionally, U.S. companies had significant investment in Mexico that was directly threatened by Mexican revolutionaries who saw these companies as in league with wealthy land owners to mistreat the common folks. Raids by warring military bands threatened civilians on both sides of the border and also created refugees. This collection of black-and-white photographs and some colored prints shows a strong, favorable bias towards the U.S.

Collection Highlights

“General staff of the Mexican Army in the council room of Huerta” – The European influence on the Mexican upper-class is apparent in the uniforms and fashions of the Federal army. Remember also that Diaz was quite old when he left office, and the age of these officials echoes the Diaz regime.

“Mexican Federal Army officers in uniform taken just before the U.S. took Vera Cruz” – The U.S. military briefly occupied the Mexican city of Veracruz in 1914 over a diplomatic dispute. The occupation was deeply embarrassing to the Mexico and fueled popular sentiment that the Mexican government was in the pocket of U.S. businesses. In this photo, more European-style uniforms can be seen along with the civilian clothes worn by the wealthy at the time. Tita’s family is likely in this circle of society.

“Naco, Sonora, federal soldiers at rest stacked arms” – Picture of Mexican Army soldiers.

“Naco, Sonora. Fed. soldiers with soldadera in trench” – The Mexican military was poorly funded, however, and this photo shows that not all soldiers had everything they needed. This photo also shows a soldadera, usually a wife of a soldier who traveled with the army and supported the camp, sometimes even fighting on the front lines. Soldaderas more famously fought alongside rebels, as Gertrudis does.

“Rebel soldiers, Matamoros, Mex” – In contrast, the rebel groups are often made up of poorer people.

“Pancho Villa” – Francisco Villa is one of the most well-known rebel leader in Northern Mexico. Chencha tells tall-tales about Villa’s men eating the hearts out of their victims, echoing both anti-rebel propaganda and indigenous Aztec imagery. Villa was like many rebel leaders who often used the image of the peasant underclass as a symbol for their movement and so would famously don peasant dress for propaganda. This image is from the Library of Congress.

“Carranza Commander in Chief of the rebel Mexican Army / Villa Major General of the Rebel Mexican Army.” – While rebel leaders tried to show they were men of the people by dressing like the poor, they also had to prove that they were responsible future statesmen. In this photograph, Villa and another rebel leader wear European-style uniforms to emphasize their legitimacy.

“Gen. Francisco Villa, shot those canon balls holes. . .” – War produces casualties. When everyone is happy about the turkey mole, Tita remarks that it is a happy moment amidst the death, famine, and destruction the war brings. In this photo, small girls point to the canon ball holes in a local building.

“Refugees at the border awaiting admission to the U.S.” –
A “picture postcard” was a popular souvenir at the time. This shocking post card shows the U.S. military facing down refugees attempting to legally cross into the United States. Chencha is described as crossing this border under the watchful eye of both nations’ armies when she comes home from visiting Tita at Dr. Brown’s. Pedro is detained at this border when Rosaura is giving birth. You might also imagine Pedro and Rosaura as refugee (if you give less credence to the Pedro/Tita relationship and imagine that perhaps Mama Elena just wanted the new family out of harm’s way).

“Electrically-charged wire fence around refugee camp Ft. Bliss, Tex” – Cattle country was beginning to get electrified fences, now common on farms. In this shocking colorized picture postcard, the text draws attention to the use of electrified fence around the refugee camp at Fort Bliss, Texas. The image is strongly resonant with current claims about the treatment of asylum seekers on the U.S. Mexico border and the concentration/internment camps of World War II.

“Detained at the refugee camp” – A shocking photo of children in the refugee camp at Fort Bliss, Texas.