RECENTLY RELEASED BOOK

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In the Shadows

of the Freeway:

Growing Up

Brown & Queer

RELEASED ON NOVEMBER 23, 2019

On Sale for $15.95

(plus $3.00 shipping)

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Order now and your book

will arrive in 4 to 7 business days

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"A searing memoir of legacy, loss, and love. Infusing historical research with childhood memories, Lydia Otero poignantly reveals the weight of urban development on Mexican communities in postwar Tucson. With rare insight, In the Shadow of the Freeway is a singular contribution to Latina/o history, urban studies, queer theory, and gender studies."

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Vicki L Ruiz 

University of California, Irvine

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LEARN MORE

Welcome!

Thank you for taking an interest in my books and projects.

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Here are a few bio highlights:

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• Being born and raised in Tucson with deep family roots on both sides of the Arizona-Sonora border inspired my interest in regional history.

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• I was a tenured professor in the Department of Mexican American Studies at the University of Arizona (2003-2020).

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• In 2019, Arizona’s César E. Chávez Holiday Coalition awarded me the Dolores Huerta Legacy Award for my activism and scholarship focusing on bringing awareness to Mexican American and local history.

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• In 2011, the Border Regional Library Association awarded my book, La Calle: Spatial Conflicts and Urban Renewal in a Southwestern City a Southwest Book Award.

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• My first book, La Calle provided the source material for the local Borderland’s Theater's “Barrio Stories,” a site-specific theatrical event that took place over four days in 2016, and that attracted over 5,000 people.

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• I founded and directed the public history program at the University of Arizona, Nuestras Tierras, Nuestras Culturas, Nuestras Historias designed to reclaim, preserve, and document the experiences and contributions of people of Mexican descent in the U.S.-Mexico border region.

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• I received a PhD in History in 2003.