A pioneering political and intellectual history of the Chicano leaders who emerged from the barrios of the Southwest between 1930 and 1960—Ignacio L. López, George I. Sanchez, Josefina Fierro de Bright, and others—and of their effort to capture first-class citizenship for Mexican Americans. Drawing extensively on archival material and oral history, Mario T. García discusses the key figures, organizations, and issues of the movement; in so doing he casts new light not only on Chicano history but also on the histories of American ethnicity and civil rights movements.