BajaNomad

Tijuana symposium looks at 1911 Magonista invasion

BajaNews - 7-29-2011 at 12:51 AM

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/jul/28/tijuana-sympo...

By Sandra Dibble
July 28, 2011

TIJUANA — A two-day symposium in Tijuana this week focuses on the city’s 122-year history, highlighting events such as the ill-fated 1911 Magonista revolution, the arrival of the first Japanese families and the student movement of the 1970s.

“This shows us the richness of Tijuana’s history,” said Gabriel Rivera Delgado, one of the organizers of the two-day event in downtown Tijuana. Held at the old City Hall on Second Street, it began today and ends Friday.

Participants include scholars, amateur historians and octogenarians sharing their memories of Tijuana’s past.

Today’s presenters included Genaro Nonaka Garcia, born in Tijuana in 1930. He spoke about his father, a Japanese immigrant named Jose Kingo Genaro Nonaka, who pioneered photography in the city as he recorded scenes of daily life.

Several of Friday’s talks focus on the unsuccessful 1911 invasion of Baja California by an insurgent army made up primarily of Americans who were loyal to the Mexican revolutionary Ricardo Flores Magon.

Rivera, who heads Tijuana’s Historical Archives, is scheduled to give a talk Friday that focuses on Miguel Guerrero, an 18-year-old Mexican army lieutenant who was wounded when he helped defend Tijuana from the invaders.

Though Teniente Miguel Guerrero Park in downtown Tijuana is named after him, few people are aware of the story. “He is Tijuana’s first hero,” Rivera said.