The William P. Clements Center for Southwest Studies and
The DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University announce


A New Publication in the Library of Texas Series

Edited by Russell L. Martin and David J. Weber
 

Twenty Years among the Mexicans:
A Narrative of Missionary Labor 

by Melinda Rankin
 
Edited, with an introduction,
     by Miguel Ángel González Quiroga and Timothy Bowman

Melinda Rankin was born in 1811 and raised in New England.  She found her calling as a missionary teacher, decided to take the Protestant religion to the people of Mexico, conquered nearly overwhelming obstacles and, after accomplishing her goal, returned to the United States to spend her last years in relative peace.  The outline of her life reveals a fascinating story of a rather ordinary woman who did extraordinary things.  Among them, she wrote two books about her experiences.  Her first book, Texas in 1850, promoted Texas as a missionary field to New England Protestants.  Her second book, Twenty Years among the Mexicans, is an autobiography that Rankin published in 1875, which is republished entirely in this Library of Texas volume.

“González and Bowman have done an excellent job of editing Melinda Rankin’s classic memoir, Twenty Years among the Mexicans.  Their introduction made me eager to meet this fascinating Methodist missionary on her own terms and in her own words as she ventured into South Texas and northeastern Mexico at a time when Protestants were decidedly not welcome.”

                         ~~ R. Douglas Brackenridge, Professor Emeritus, Department of Religion, Trinity University

Miguel Ángel González Quiroga, is a professor of history at the Colegio de Historia, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León in Mexico.  His current research is a 19^th century study on conflict, cooperation and coexistence between Anglos and Mexicans in the Rio Grande region.

Timothy Bowman is a Ph.D. candidate in American History at Southern Methodist University. His current research is a twentieth-century study of the citrus industry in Texas' Lower Rio Grande Valley and the segregation of Anglos, Mexicans, and Mexican Americans in the region.

Our edition is handsomely designed by Bradley Hutchinson, printed on acid-free paper, and indexed.   We have printed 500 copies, of which 450 are for sale.  Our edition cannot be purchased through retail bookshops.  For details about ordering this book and others in the Library of Texas series, please contact the Clements Center at 214-768-3684 or swcenter@smu.edu.

For the Spanish language edition, please see www.fondoeditorialnl.gob.mx, published by the Fondo Editorial in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico.

Click here for a printable pdf. copy of the order form.
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ORDER FORM

Twenty Years among the Mexicans, edited by Miguel Ángel González Quiroga and Timothy Bowman.

Name:___________________________________   Phone/email:_________________________________________

Number of copies: ______ x $55.00                                  =  _________
(10% discount for Library of Texas subscribers)           

8.25% Texas sales tax if applicable                                    =  _________      

Postage: $3.50 per copy                                                     =  _________      

TOTAL:                                                                          =  _________

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