Elizabeth Catlett, an African American Artist at the height of the Cold War, chose to leave possible persecution in the United States. With this decision in mind, she settled in Mexico to work with a group of artists with common beliefs. The themes…

In early December of 1959, Anastas Mikoyan, the Soviet Union’s first deputy premier and one of its most formidable political figures, shouted "Viva México!" to a group of oil workers in the small Veracruz city of Poza Rica. A loud "Viva Rusia!" in…

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy appointed Laredo, Texas native, Thomas C. Mann, as the first U.S. Ambassador to Mexico from Texas. Long a proponent of settling a fractious border dispute involving a small piece of land known as “El Chamizal” on…

Balamkú cave in Chichén Itzá holds high numbers of Maya artifacts. The connection between the Maya and the Underworld being intertwined in the inner earth is not a new revelation, but what rituals were conducted and with what are still questions…

Although it has now been eradicated, smallpox, named for the pus-filled blisters that often rendered the disease-ridden individual unrecognizable, left a devastating and indelible mark on the New World. In a particularly graphic and poignant…

Over the course of centuries, beginning with Fray Bernardino de Sahagún's mention during the sixteenth century, the ancient Mesoamerican site of Xochicalco, which is in the state of Morelos, Mexico, has captured the attention of explorers and…

Throughout history and across all cultures women have arguably held the most significant role in society: motherhood. This role has required every culture group to create medical practices, as well as religious and spiritual beliefs to cope with and…

Religion is one of the most powerful forces in human history. Religion compels people, saves people, condemns people, and halts people. Records of religious beliefs have been found in almost every civilization in recorded history. Despite the fact…

Chichen Itza’s timeline from the classical and post-classical period is shrouded in mystery from the surrounding Mayan civilization. The city-state of Chichen Itza itself has many features in architecture and imagery that are similar to the likes of…

In December 2015, the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City recuperated the Bas-relief known as Xoc. An Olmec sculpture, just over 2 meters tall, once sat in the Lacandon jungle of Chiapas until it was chipped off its original location and…

“Half-Christ and half-goat,”[1] this was how Edward Flanders Ricketts was described. He was a marine biologist, based in Monterey, California on Ocean View Avenue. He is known for his book, “Between Pacific Tides”, which describes the ecology of…

Many years later following the end of his presidency, Ulysses S. Grant decided to venture on a trip to Cuba and Mexico in December of 1879. Grant’s colleagues, such as Whitelaw Reid, asserted that Grant's trip was motivated by his eagerness to make…

The Ejército Mexicano (Mexican Army) rolled into Nuevo Laredo on September 8, 2005, as Hurricane Katrina slammed into southern Louisiana after making landfall in New Orleans. A line of forty-five military vehicles filled with up to 195 military…

The ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) is about the size of a bobcat but holds many characteristics of its more famous cousin, the jaguar, (Pathera onca). This spotted yellow- furred cat prowls in the tropical forests of South and Central America, and the…

The cuauhmeh, the plural form of eagle in Nahuatl, were a special division of soldiers in the Aztec military that were known for their ferocity and ability to capture opponents for ritual sacrifice. While a majority of these men were the sons of…

One of the main factors that caused the 1910 Mexican Revolution was agricultural workers not being able to own the land they worked on. Mexico had far too many large, individual land holdings making the everyday farmer struggle to gain rights to…

If one were to find themselves strolling through the parks of Mexico City, they might be surprised to run into a statue of United States President Abraham Lincoln in Mexico City’s aptly named, Parque Lincoln. Commissioned by the United States…

When watching films like “Coco” or seeing displays of Mexican art, a pink tone stands out; this pink tone composed of purplish tones, similar to the color fuchsia, has ties to Ozuluama, Veracruz, Mexico. Its designer was inspired by the religious…

What is the image you think of when thinking about a Former First Lady? Perhaps it is the image of a prim and proper woman fashionably dressed sipping tea. Jackie Kennedy was a fashionably dressed woman that did not just sit and drink tea, however.…

Walking up to the Templo de la Ciudad de México, one would believe that they were about to enter a Maya temple from the pre-Columbian Era. It must be shocking then when they realize that this Maya-style building is actually a religious temple for The…

Tamales are a simple mixture of corn masa (dough) – sometimes filled with sweet or savory fillings and then wrapped in banana leaves or corn husks for cooking. In the hustle and bustle of today’s modern society, the tamale maintains a revered…

The mysterious people that built the ancient city of Teotihuacán are still revealing their secrets to us today. The ruins of that historic urban center are located approximately 25 miles northeast of the sprawling metropolitan center of Mexico City.…

The federal government oversees all archaeological sites and most of the museums in Mexico. The Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (otherwise known as INAH) is charged with maintaining and caring for these locations. INAH, which is…

In 2009, Roland Emmerich directed the action-disaster movie 2012. The movie focused heavily on themes of apocalypse and the way that people can and should treat each other in times of crisis. Little attention was paid to science and even less to the…

At the northern end of Mexico City, the streets Avenida John F. Kennedy and Adolfo López Mateos sit parallel with each other. The proximity of these two streets highlight the close relationship between their namesakes cemented fifty-eight years…