Shadow Over San Mateo

As sixteen-year-old Tricia grieves over the death of her father, she loses interest in horse racing and begins to question the wisdom of God.

Reproduction of the original: In the Shadow of the Hills by George C. Shedd

In the Shadow of Cortés offers a visual and cultural history of the legacy of the contact between Spaniards and indigenous civilizations of Mexico. Kathleen Ann Myers reveals how the symbolic geography of the conquest fuels a historical memory of colonialism that continues to shape lives today.

Ever since the DeAnza expedition camped in the area in 1776, residents and visitors have been making their way to San Mateo--situated in the shadow of its famous northern neighbor, San Francisco. This book trains the spotlight on the unique peninsular city of San Mateo, and illustrates its development from sleepy, oak-studded ranchos to today's bustling city with its own college, three high schools, churches, hospitals, and a population approaching 100,000.

The gripping story of a pioneering anthropologist whose exploration of Aztec cosmology, rediscovery of ancient texts, and passion for collecting helped shape our understanding of pre-Columbian Mexico. Where do human societies come from? The drive to answer this question inspired a generation of archaeologists and treasure-seekers who, following Darwin, began to look beyond the Bible for the origins of civilizations. Proud, disciplined, ferociously territorial, the inimitable Zelia Nuttall threw herself into the study of Mexico's past, eager to bring the tools of science to the study of ancient civilizations. A child of the San Francisco Gold Rush, Zelia immersed herself in the tales of conquistadores and pored through records of the Inquisition. She knew Nahuatl, the language of the Aztec and Toltec, and was skilled at deciphering their pictographic stories. She was also conversant with their gods and myths, as well as the stars by which they regulated their rituals and other activities. The first to fully decode the Aztec calendar stone, Zelia Nuttall was a protégé of Frederick Putnam, who offered her a job at Harvard's Peabody Museum. But as a divorced mother with a dwindling fortune, she preferred to live in Mexico, her mother's birthplace, where she became a vital bridge between Mexican and American anthropologists through war and revolution. The first biography of a true original, In the Shadow of Quetzalcoatl reveals how, from the 1880s to the 1930s, scholar-collectors like Zelia Nuttall shaped America's museums. Merilee Grindle captures the appeal and contradictions of this trailblazing woman, who contributed so much to the new field of anthropology until a newly professionalized generation trained in universities overshadowed her remarkable achievements.

Presents biographical sketches of New Mexican children from different cultures, races, and classes who represent the strength and diversity of this state's heritage.