Elena
was born in Morenci, a copper mining town in southeastern Arizona.
The town was demolished in the late 60's by the corporation which
owned it. The people of Morenci, mostly Mexican American, who
had lived there for generations, were forced to abandon their
homes.
Elena
taught at Santa Rosa Junior College in California for a year before
running the CETA Program for the County of Sonoma. When she moved
north to Mendocino County she started a bilingual program for
Mexican children and taught ESL and Spanish. Later she taught
U.S. History and Spanish at Mendocino High School. In 1990, she
retired from teaching and began writing Suffer Smoke. In
the fall of 1996 she returned to teaching with a position at Sonoma
State University where she taught Chicano/Latino
Studies classes.
"Growing
up in a large extended family and the close-knit Chicano community
in Morenci gave me a strong sense of family values and allowed
me to see first hand the importance of a community working together.
My
father, Valentine Herrera, like all the other Chicano miners,
was active in the labor union. Through the union, the miners were
able to obtain equal pay, better working conditions, medical benefits,
and a pension plan. Because of my upbringing, I have always been
an activist, striving to make things better for the oppressed.
I feel that it's crucial for those of us who have 'made it' to
give back to our people by helping others not so fortunate."
The
loss of her hometown has haunted Elena for many years, but it
was not until several years ago that the town itself started haunting
her dreams. It was then that she started writing the stories of
her people—the Chicanos of Morenci. The result was a book
of short stories, Suffer
Smoke published by Arte Público Press in 1996.
Her
latest book entitled Water from the Moon
(Writers Club Press 2002) is a collection of short stories about
Morenci for young adults and adults young at heart. Her other
publications include Rediscovering My Spirit, a collection
of poetry, and La Familia Limón Díaz, a family
history. “The Hershey Bar Queen,” a story from Suffer
Smoke was published in Las Americas Review (Arte
Público Press 1994), in The Floating Borderlands
(University of Washington Press 1998), and in The Strange History of Suzanne Lafleshe and other stories of women and fatness (The Feminist Press 2003) . “The Getaway,”
a story from Albóndiga Soup, her new manuscript,
was published in the anthology, Fantasmas (Bilingual Review
Press 2001). Elena also co-edited an anthology of stories and
poems by women writers,
Sowing the Seeds, una cosecha de recuerdos (Writers
Club Press 2002). Her play, “Teresita” is being considered
for production by various teatros in the Southwest. In 2002, the
Catalina Players of Tucson sponsored two readings of the play.
In 2005 Elena completed a a project on the living history program
at Old Tubac
Schoolhouse. She is currently completing work on a new book,
Albódiga Soup.
Although
writing is her primary passion, Elena is also an artist. She sculpts
in paper mache and clay and enjoys creating masks and sculptures
with Native Meso-American and Southwest Native American designs.
Samples of her work can be viewed online at Passion4Art.
She sells her art at various arts and crafts shows in Arizona.
She teaches classes in pottery, book
making, writing, and drum making in her studio, Casita TzinTzunTzan,
in Tucson.
In
1999 Elena returned to her roots in Arizona with her husband,
Kurt. In 2001 the Arizona Humanities Council (AHC) funded her
to create an oral history website
of Mexican Americans in Morenci during the Great Depression and
World War II. The AHC and the Arizona State Historical Parks also
funded her to perform as Teresa Urrea for Chautauqua 2001. She
is currently on the AHC Speakers Bureau and does not only Chautauqua but also two other presentations: "Growing Up Chicana in Morenci" and "Chicano Art: Resistance and Affirmation." Click here for information
about her presentations and current schedule.
Elena
can be contacted directly through email.
personal
webpage at
http://www.geocities.com/mimorenci
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