Cultural Experts Guide and Speakers Bureau


John P. Schmal    [Availability]
Historian, Genealogist, Lecturer
Coauthor, The Dominguez Family: A Mexican-American Journey


 BIOGRAPHY
John Schmal is an historian, genealogist, and lecturer. He was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. After graduating from high school, John attended Loyola-Marymount University in Los Angeles and St. Cloud State University in Minnesota, where he studied Geography, History and Earth Sciences and received two BA degrees. He has been a life-long history buff and is also a skilled genealogist. His genealogical specialties including tracing lineages in Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the Southwestern United States. Over the years, he has developed great familiarity with the old church records from the states of Chihuahua, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Aguascalientes and Zacatecas, where he has traced dozens of lineages, both Spanish and indigenous.

John Schmal has coauthored four books on Mexican-American themes, all of them published by Heritage Books in Maryland. With his friend Donna Morales, he coauthored Mexican-American Genealogical Research: Following the Paper Trail to Mexico (Heritage Books, 2002) and The Dominguez Family: A Mexican-American Journey (Heritage Books, 2004). In addition, he has published several articles about the political representation of Latinos and contributed 19 stories to Encyclopedia Latina (which will be published in April 2005 by Groliers).

John Schmal has recently become a regular columnist for the award-winning weekly, hispanicvista.com. He serves on the board of the Society of Hispanic Historical Ancestral Research (SHHAR) and is an associate editor of SHHAR's online monthly newsletter, www.somosprimos.com. Presently, in addition to writing his weekly columns for hispanicvista.com, he is writing books on the indigenous peoples of Mexico and on the ports of entry along the Mexican-U.S. border. Schmal has a passionate love of Mexican history and has been writing short histories of each state, which are being compiled at the following link: www.houstonculture.org/mexico/states.html. Other writings by John Schmal are presented at www.houstonculture.org/hispanic.

 CURRENT INTEREST
With coauthor Donna Morales, Schmal recently published The Dominguez Family: A Mexican-American Journey (Heritage Books, 2004).

AVAILABILITY
SubjectsMexican-American Genealogical Research, History of Mexico, Indigenous Cultures of Mexico
PresentationLecture or Formatted Discussion
AvailabilityMedia Interviews and Speaking Engagements
Dates AvailableYear round
Contact InfoEmail: JohnnyPJ@aol.com; Phone number available on request; Contact Houston Institute for Culture at 713-521-3686, or by email at info@houstonculture.org. Please include specific information about your request.


The Cultural Experts Guide and Speakers Bureau is an effort by the Houston Institute for Culture to promote interest and awareness of cultural and social issues which impact southeast Texas. Houston Institute for Culture does not represent experts and speakers listed here as an agent. We have included writers, researchers, journalists, artists, community advocates and organizers, who we are certain will offer informed, meaningful and interesting presentations of their material. Media and organizers must make arrangements directly with those listed. Because of limited availability or research schedules, some may ask that inquiries be first directed to the Cultural Experts Guide and Speakers Bureau coordinator. You may contact others directly if their contact information is provided.
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