131 - Dr. Natalia Molina, A Place at the Nayarit: How a Mexican Restaurant Nourished a Community

July 16, 2024 00:56:01
131 - Dr. Natalia Molina, A Place at the Nayarit: How a Mexican Restaurant Nourished a Community
History of California Podcast
131 - Dr. Natalia Molina, A Place at the Nayarit: How a Mexican Restaurant Nourished a Community

Jul 16 2024 | 00:56:01

/

Show Notes

Dr. Natalia Molina is a Distinguished Professor and Dean’s Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California. Her influential research examines the interconnected histories of race, place, gender, culture, and citizenship. An award-winning author, teacher, and mentor, she has written three acclaimed books: How Race Is Made in America: Immigration, Citizenship, and the Historical Power of Racial Scripts; Fit to Be Citizens?: Public Health and Race in Los Angeles, 1879-1940; and, most recently, A Place at the Nayarit: How a Mexican Restaurant Nourished a Community. The Los Angeles Times called A Place at the Nayarit an “essential Los Angeles book.” It was a finalist for a James Beard Award and received 14 awards and honorable mentions from various organizations. The book chronicles the lives of immigrant workers, including Molina’s grandmother, who became placemakers, nurturing and feeding their communities at restaurants that served as urban anchors.

Professor Molina is currently working on a new book, The Silent Hands that Shaped the Huntington Library: A History of Its Immigrant Workers. Named a USC 2023 Communicator of the Year, she has written for the LA Times, Washington Post, San Diego Union-Tribune, and elsewhere. In 2020, she was named a MacArthur Fellow.

Other Episodes

Episode

October 07, 2019 00:14:38
Episode Cover

11 - Junipero Serra Part I

In this episode, we begin to explore the life Junipero Serra by looking at his background, his culture, and his religious worldview.

Listen

Episode

April 05, 2019 00:10:15
Episode Cover

1 - First People

We explore in this episode how the first people arrived to California.

Listen

Episode

September 12, 2024 00:14:46
Episode Cover

137 - Railroads and California, Part I

In this introductory episode, we complete some table setting by looking at some of the history and development of railroads before diving into California...

Listen