Source: dailytexanonline.com

John Trevino, Austin’s first Mexican-American city council member, can be seen pictured on the cover of the first issue of the US Latino & Latina Oral History Journal, the first professional academic journal of its field. The Center for Mexican American Studies hosted a celebration of the launch of the journal, which is a research publication exploring experiences of Latinas and Latinos in the United States through interviews. Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez, journalism professor and founding editor of the journal, said the significance of the journal relies on its emphasis of oral storytelling. Rivas-Rodriguez also said oral history can be used to fill in the gaps left by lack of archival information such as diaries, letters and memoirs about Latinas and Latinos in the U.S. The peer-reviewed journal will publish issues annually because of how long it takes academic experts to review manuscripts of the interviews. The first issue focuses on political and civic engagement amongst Latinas and Latinos in the U.S.