Sept. 15 marked the start of Hispanic heritage month, but Nicole Martinez-LeGrand is doing the work year-round.
In her role as multicultural collections curator for the Indiana Historical Society, she researches and preserves the history of the state’s underrepresented communities.
One blog post in 2020 blossomed into the creation of “Beyond el Barrio,” a short documentary film exploring the roots of Indy’s first Mexican American neighborhood on the east side.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
What inspired you to start “Beyond el Barrio?”
In 2016, I was hired to backfill the gap in our history, the historical gap in our collection at the Indiana Historical Society. We’ve been around since 1830, collecting and telling Indiana’s story. I was charged with collecting history of Latinos and Asians at the same time, and then having an exhibit for each population.
Traveling the state, trying to collect all these stories, you don’t know what the theme or the scope of the exhibit is going to be. So I was following a lot of leads, and a colleague at the State Museum told me about the Espinoza family here in Indianapolis. I interviewed some of the children and said, “tell me about your dad’s experience with the grocery store.”
Where to watch
Watch the documentary for free on YouTube or catch it on the big screen at 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 20 at Central Library downtown. A panel discussion with the film’s creators and scholars will follow the screening.
Follow Nicole’s work on the historical society’s blog.
Then, as you notice in the documentary, I’m in the archives. There was an oral history program that was donated to us. It was conducted in 1990 was called emerging Hispanic population. I interviewed some more people and it just became more and more apparent that, yeah, I’m learning from the residents.
I think what people need to understand about the documentary and about me working with them is that they were all children at the time of displacement. And so we were learning together, and we all share the same level of enthusiasm, for wanting to learn more. It’s like we were putting together a puzzle.
That’s why when I do oral history interviews I always ask people to bring in photos because while you’re going through the photos, you are remembering things and recalling things. Photographs, which we collect here, are very powerful.
What’s your history here in Indiana? Did you grow up here?
I grew up in the northwest part of the state in Lake County and my family actually immigrated here in the early 1920s. They were part of an early Mexican colony that started in Indiana Harbor, which is a neighborhood in East Chicago, Ind. I ended up focusing on a lot of that area because I was working against the hands of time.
A lot of these people were old and older and aging. And so all of the photos that we’ve collected that are old are from personal family photo albums. Both sides of my family were settled either in South Chicago and then moved to Indiana Harbor. I was literally going off their good reputation in the community because, like, who’s this lady from Indianapolis who’s interested in wanting to see my family photos and hear me tell my story?
I said, “oh, you know, I’m the great granddaughter of …” And then I would mention names and they’re like, “oh, yeah.” So, that’s a good lesson to keep your nose clean and have a good, upstanding reputation in the community.
What’s been your relationship with your family?
Sharing this with my family was great. My grandfather, who recently passed this spring, was very interested. I would bring him up north to events. There was a group called the Old Timers of Indiana Harbor, and they had a monthly lunch and then they had an event in October where they rented out a reception hall. He said, “oh, no one’s going to remember me.”
As soon as I walked in there with my grandparents, it was, “Eddie and Aurora!” He was a photographer and a cartoonist for a bilingual newspaper in Northwest Indiana that started in the late 1950s called The Latin Times. He was also a community photographer and worked at the steel mill.
Edward Medina. He lived to 95. He moved to Indianapolis when I was in high school to be with the next generation of cousins. When I learned how to drive, I joke that I just followed my grandparents around. We were very close.
When I was doing interviews, people would just give me unidentified photos and say, “I don’t know who this is.” So I would screenshot it and I would send it to my grandfather, like, “who is this?” He would text me back, “oh, that’s so and so.” He helped identify a lot of photos.
Is that where your interest in history comes from?
You know, I think it is just being Latino. We are all natural storytellers and we talk about our history and our family. My entry into the history field and the museum world is art museums. I studied art history, that’s what my undergraduate degree is in.
I was literally outside of Chicago, like a stone’s throw, so I had access to really great museums and those were my informal learning environments, my playgrounds. Then when I got older I was able to use the South Shore train line. I had freedom.
At the same time, my mother was working in social work with the HIV/AIDs community, so it was intimate to me. I guess it enacted my sense of social justice.
When you were listening to these people’s stories, what stood out to you about the Latino experience?
What I can say about the Latino community now is that they had a drive, whether that’s an entrepreneurial drive, a community focused drive for the betterment of the population. You just have this unbreakable spirit.
What you can see in the Latino community today and yesteryear is this undeniable, unbreakable spirit and pride. And I think Indianapolis really offers a lot of people — regardless of ethnicity or background — a chance to really develop themselves and be in a giant maker space.
Why do you think it’s so important now to highlight the history of Latinos?
I think it’s always important. It’s important for non-Latinos and Latinos to know about this deep history, because even if you’re not Latino, you are affected by this history as well. You benefit from this history.
Do you think it’s a way for people to connect?
I do my work for both Latino and non-Latino audiences because generally everybody wants to learn. Everybody wants to know more. And so that’s why my work is there, for you to learn and even just take deeper pride in Indianapolis of understanding another layer of interesting history.
So, what’s next?
That is the million dollar question. Usually with the past books and exhibits, and now this documentary, it does have a life span of its own. But I’ll continue to write blogs about Latino history, as I have been, and put that out there on the internet for everybody to find and read.
It’s been really great because people from outside of the country, outside of Indiana, have found these documents or found these blogs. I will try to never do anything that’s behind a paywall so people can find this history.
What is one blog message you want to send to Latinos, especially young Latinos, about their history?
Your history matters. You matter. There have been people before you who have overcome some serious circumstances, but I think it’s ingrained in our Latino culture to remember that we have this resilience and perseverance that will carry you on for a lifetime.
Do you see expanding “El Barrio” in the future?
I never say it’s done because it’s never done. When I wrote the first blog in March of 2020, I was like, “that’s it,” and then people just kind of came out of the woodwork.
I also write for the digital Encyclopedia of Indianapolis so I’m working on some new entries with them, just putting that information out there for people to find just builds the canon of history here in Indianapolis and the state of Indiana.
How do you hope this documentary impacts Latinos?
I want to deepen the pride that we already have in our own culture and what was done before them. I think of my work as a general foundation for people to build off of, whether that’s becoming historians themselves or being business owners starting their own social groups.
If you think of a community like a house, I’m putting the foundation and it’s up to the community to build off of that, both young, old and everywhere between.
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Stephanie Amador is a Mirror Indy freelance contributor. Contact her at stephaniekblondet@gmail.com.
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