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Newspaper El Machete (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1940-19?? Machete sucesor de justicia

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About El Machete (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1940-19??

In July 1916, the weekly Spanish-language newspaper Justicia debuted in Phoenix, published by Pedro Garcia de la Lama and Teodoro Olea, with de la Lama continuing the newspaper after Olea's death in 1917. De la Lama was a longtime publisher, having operated several newspapers in New Mexico in the 1890s and El Progreso in Phoenix, 1898-1902. He and Olea were officers of the civic organization Junta Patriotica in Phoenix and were founding members of El Club Democrata Hispano Americano there. De la Lama was a founding member of La Liga Protectora Latina, a mutual aid and civil rights organization established in Phoenix in 1915.

In 1936, Justicia's masthead stated, in English, that it was "The Only Spanish Democratic Paper in Arizona." Justicia advocated for various candidates and causes. A front-page headline declared, "No Hay Justicia!" ("There is no justice!"), concerning an execution (April 27, 1920). De la Lama had unsuccessfully appealed to the Arizona Attorney General to suspend the man's sentence due to his mental condition and published a letter from La Liga Protectora Latina condemning those involved in the execution. The August 13, 1936 issue stated, "Arizona Necesita Al Gobernador Moeur" ("Arizona Needs Governor Moeur") and urged support of a sales tax that benefitted the people of Arizona, "incluyendo miles de ciudadanos Latino-Americanos" ("including thousands of Latin American citizens.")

There are only two extant issues of Justicia from 1920 and 1936, but the newspaper was succeeded in 1940 by El Machete, a four-page weekly publication filled with political columns and advertisements for political candidates. In 1942, the newspaper was titled El Machete Sucesor de Justicia with a circulation of 4,000 and distributed for free. By April 1944, the newspaper was named El Machete again, and de la Lama's son Roberto G. Lama was listed as owner, alongside his father as manager and editor. During the early 1940s, editorials questioned political candidates whom de la Lama viewed as unsupportive of Hispanic Americans. There were ongoing heated columns directed at Jesús Franco, publisher of the Phoenix newspaper El Sol. De la Lama also submitted columns to another Phoenix newspaper, El Mensajero, sharply criticizing Franco and whom he supported politically. In several issues of El Machete published in 1944, de la Lama referred to Franco as "Franquillo," a diminutive form of the publisher's name.

El Machete started including more community news and advertisements, and it often encouraged readers to purchase bonds to support the war effort. The Local News section listed names of community members fighting in the war who were killed, wounded, or missing in action, and by May 1944, Roberto Lama's name as publisher was followed by "In the U.S. Army." A December 28, 1944 column stated that, due to Pedro de la Lama's illness, publication of El Machete would be suspended for the month of January, but this was to be the last issue, as he died in February 1945.

Provided By: Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records; Phoenix, AZ

About this Newspaper

Title

  • El Machete (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1940-19??

Other Title

  • Machete sucesor de justicia

Dates of Publication

  • 1940-19??

Created / Published

  • Phoenix, Ariz. : P.G. De la Lama

Headings

  • -  Phoenix (Ariz.)--Newspapers
  • -  Maricopa County (Ariz.)--Newspapers
  • -  Arizona--Maricopa County
  • -  Arizona--Phoenix
  • -  United States--Arizona--Maricopa--Phoenix

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Began in 1940.
  • -  "The only democratic Spanish paper published in Arizona."
  • -  Numbering is irregular.
  • -  Chiefly in Spanish; some text in English.
  • -  Description based on: T. 1, no. 21 (jul. 21 de 1940).

Medium

  • volumes : illustrations

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn99068146

OCLC Number

  • 42417436

Preceding Titles

Additional Metadata Formats

Availability

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress believes that the newspapers in Chronicling America are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions. Newspapers published in the United States more than 95 years ago are in the public domain in their entirety. Any newspapers in Chronicling America that were published less than 95 years ago are also believed to be in the public domain, but may contain some copyrighted third party materials. Researchers using newspapers published less than 95 years ago should be alert for modern content (for example, registered and renewed for copyright and published with notice) that may be copyrighted. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item.

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

El Machete Phoenix, Ariz. -19??. (Phoenix, AZ), Jan. 1 1940. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn99068146/.

APA citation style:

(1940, January 1) El Machete Phoenix, Ariz. -19??. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn99068146/.

MLA citation style:

El Machete Phoenix, Ariz. -19??. (Phoenix, AZ) 1 Jan. 1940. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn99068146/.