Albert Camarillo

Albert Michael Camarillo is an American historian, author and academic. He is the Leon Sloss Jr. Memorial Professor, emeritus, in the department of history at Stanford University, and holds a courtesy appointment as a professor in the graduate school of education.

Albert Michael Camarillo
Born	Compton, California
Occupation(s)	Historian, author and academic
Academic background
Alma mater	University of California, Los Angeles
Thesis	The Making of a Chicano Community: A History of the Chicanos in Santa Barbara, California, 1850-1930 (1975)
Academic work
Institutions	Stanford University

Camarillo's research spans 20th-century U.S. history with a focus on the experiences of Mexican Americans and other communities of color in American cities. He is widely regarded as a founding scholar in the field of Mexican American history and Chicano/Latino Studies. He has authored, edited, and co-edited seven books, including Chicanos in a Changing Society: From Mexican Pueblos to American Barrios and Chicanos in California: A History of Mexican Americans.

Camarillo is the past president of the Organization of American Historians, and past president of the Pacific Coast Branch of the American Historical Association.

Early life and education

Camarillo was born in Compton, California on February 9, 1948, to Benjamín T. Camarillo and Rose López Camarillo. His father, at age nine, immigrated to Compton from Michoacán, Mexico in 1911 and his mother was born on Santa Catalina Island in 1911. His parents and grandparents were among the earliest Mexican immigrants to settle permanently in Compton.

After attending public schools in Compton, Camarillo was admitted to the University of California, Los Angeles in 1966. He graduated with a major in history in 1970 and was admitted to the doctoral program in U.S. history at UCLA upon graduation. He received a Ph.D. in history in 1975, under the direction of Juan Gómez-Quiñones. His dissertation was titled "The Making of a Chicano Community: A History of the Chicanos in Santa Barbara, California, 1850-1930."

Career

While working on his Ph.D., Camarillo was a lecturer in the history department and Chicano studies department at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 1971–72. Upon completion of his Ph.D. in 1975, he joined Stanford University as assistant professor of history, and was named the Mellon Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies in 1991. From 2002 to 2010, he served as the Miriam and Peter Haas Centennial Professor in Public Service before his appointment in 2011 as the Leon Sloss Jr. Memorial Professor, the endowed professorship he held until his retirement in 2017.

From 1980 to 1985, he served as the founding director of the Stanford Center for Chicano Research, and the founding executive director of the inter-university program in Latino research from 1985 to 1988. Later, in 1992, he held an appointment as associate dean and director of undergraduate studies in the school of humanities and sciences at Stanford University. In 1996, he was appointed as founding director of the Center of Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity (CCSRE) and chair of the CSRE undergraduate degree program. From 2007 to 2016, he was special assistant to the provost for faculty diversity. He was a member of the history department of the Stanford University for over forty years.

Public intellectual

Camarillo's broad contributions as a public intellectual and as an academic who has promoted understanding and appreciation of the history of Mexican Americans in American society have been recognized by many academic and civic organizations. In addition, his work in writing reports as an expert witness in several Voting Rights Act and affirmative action legal cases was pivotal: Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Garza v Los Angeles County of Board of Supervisors (1990), Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Ruiz v City of Santa Maria (2000), University of Michigan, Gratz v Bollinger (2000), Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Luna v Kern County Board of Supervisors (2018). His work in public history includes serving as a board member and vice-chair of the California Historical Society and the California Council for the Humanities from 2011 to 2017 and from 1985 to 1988, respectively. He was a member of the Juana Briones Heritage Foundation's board from 2004 to 2009 and acted as Guest Curator for the Juana Briones Exhibition sponsored by the California Historical Society in 2013.

Research

With his research in Mexican American history and Chicano Studies, Camarillo's body of work helped establish the foundations for understanding the history of Mexican-origin people in the United States. He has authored numerous publications, including peer-reviewed articles, and is the recipient of Scholar Award by National Association of Chicana and Chicano Studies.

Mexican American history

Camarillo's Chicanos in a Changing Society: From Mexican Pueblos to American Barrios in Santa Barbara and Southern California, 1848-1930 traces the social, cultural, economic, and political changes that shaped the lives of three generations of Mexican Americans after California's annexation by the U.S. following the War with Mexico in 1848. His second book, Chicanos in California: A History of Mexican Americans, is the first historical overview about the state's largest ethnic group In related research, he addressed the projected increase in the Hispanic/Latino population in America, and the potential implications of this group becoming the largest minority by 2050. Specifically, he examined whether Latinos would have access to crucial opportunities, such as education and employment, or if they would continue to face economic marginalization. In 2013, he revisited the subject and provided his personal perspectives on the maturation of Chicano/Mexican American history.

Comparative studies in race and ethnicity

Camarillo has written about the comparative history of various immigrant groups and communities of color in American cities. In a 2007 study, he analyzed the demographic changes and explored the conflict and cooperation among non-whites and whites in Compton and East Palo Alto. In a broader historical study, he examined the history of segregated life in American neighborhoods. Coining these urban/suburban places as "racial borderhoods", he highlighted the racial discrimination and economic disparities as factors that created an unequal environment for different groups over time

His memoir, Compton in My Soul – A Life in Pursuit of Racial Equality, was published in 2024. The book traces Camarillo's life growing up in the multiracial city of Compton through the 1950s and 1960s and his long journey through higher education and beyond as historian and social justice activist.

Personal life

Camarillo has been married to Susan Garb Camarillo for over fifty years and has resided in Menlo Park, California since 1975. Together they have three children.

Awards and honors

• 1988 - Lloyd W. Dinkelspiel Award for Outstanding Service to Undergraduate Education
• 1994 – Walter J. Gores Award for Excellence in Teaching
• 1999 – Community Star Award, Gentry Magazine
• 2007 – Top Ten Most Influential Hispanic Educators in Silicon Valley
• 2007 – La Familia Award, Hispanic Foundation of Silicon Valley
• 2007 - Miriam A. Roland Prize for Volunteer Service
• 2009 – Mayor's Award for Contributions to Diversity, City of Menlo Park
• 2010 – Richard Lyman Award, Stanford Alumni Association
• 2016 – Equity Award, American Historical Association
• 2017 – Ollin Award, Latino Leadership Alliance of Santa Clara Valley
• 2019 – Latino Spirit Award for Achievement in Academia, California State Legislative Latino Caucus
• 2020 – Distinguished Service Award, Pacific Coast Branch-American Historical Association
• 2021 – Scholar Award, National Association of Chicana and Chicano Studies

Bibliography

Books

• Furia y Muerte: Los Bandidos Chicanos (1973) ISBN 978-0895510037.
• Chicanos in a Changing Society: From Mexican Pueblos to American Barrios in Santa Barbara and Southern California (1979; 2005) ISBN 978-0870744976
• The American Southwest: Myth and Reality (1979)
• Work, Family, Sex Roles, Language: The National Association for Chicano Studies Selected Papers (1979) ISBN 978-0892290079
• The State of Chicano Research in Family, Labor and Migration Studies (1983) ISBN 978-9995705701
• Chicanos in California: A history of Mexican Americans in California (Golden State series) (1984) ISBN 978-0878351282

Selected articles

• Camarillo, A. (1989). Mexicans and Europeans in American cities: some comparative perspectives. The evolution of ethnic relations in the United States and Canada, 237–262.
• Camarillo, A. (1999). Reflections on the Growth of Chicana/o History. Julian Samora Research Institute, Michigan State University.
• Camarillo, A. and Frank Bonilla, (2000). Hispanics in a Multicultural Society: A New American Dilemma?" America Becoming: Racial Trends in the United States.
• Camarillo, A. (2000). Reflections of a historian on teaching a service-learning course about poverty and homelessness in America. Connecting past and present: Concepts and models for service-learning in history, 103–14.
• Camarillo, A. (2007). Cities of Color: The Making of California's Minority-Majority Cities, Pacific Historical Review, 76 (1).
• Camarillo, A. M. (2013). Navigating Segregated Life in America's Racial Borderhoods, 1910s–1950s. The Journal of American History, 100(3), 645–662.
• Camarillo, A. (2013). Looking Back on Chicano History: A Generational Perspective, Pacific Historical Review, 82:4