The Roberto Reveles Papers contain correspondence, photographs, newspaper clippings, organizational records, subject files, and other items documenting Reveles' career as a congressional staffer for five congressmen in Arizona, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C. between 1956 and 1980. His work as an advocate for civil rights and immigration reform in the Mexican and Mexican-American communities is also shown. Una versión en Español de este documento está disponible en el sitio http://www.azarchivesonline.org/xtf/view?docId=ead/asu/reveles_spa.xml.
Identification:
MSS-351
Language:
Material primarily in English with some Spanish.
Repository:
Arizona State University Library. Chicano Research Collection P.O. Box 871006 Tempe, AZ 85287-1006 Phone: (480) 965-4932 E-Mail: archives@asu.edu Questions? Ask An Archivist!
Biographical Note
Roberto Apodaca Reveles was born in Miami, Arizona on November 25, 1932. He graduated from Miami High School (1951), earned his B.A. from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service (1962), attended American University's College of Law, and served in the U.S. Air Force (1952-1955). He was previously married and was the father of five children.
Reveles has served on the staffs of several congressmen, including as personal secretary to Rep. Stewart L. Udall (D-Ariz.; 1956-1961), as special assistant (1961-1962 and 1966-1969) and administrative assistant (1978-1980) to Rep. Morris K. Udall (D-Ariz.), as legislative assistant to Rep. George F. Senner (D.-Ariz.; 1962-1964); as administrative assistant to Rep. Paul J. Krebs (D-N.J.; 1964-1966), and as executive secretary to Rep. Frank Thompson, Jr. (D-N.J.; 1969-1977). In these positions, he managed all phases of the congressional offices, including legislative and administrative duties. Reveles also served as the associate staff director for the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs (1977-1980) before leaving Congress to become the manager and vice president for Government Affairs for Homestake Mining Company in San Francisco, California in 1980. Here, Reveles was responsible for designing and implementing corporate actions on government public policies until his retirement in 1992.
Throughout his career, Reveles has advocated for immigration reform at the State and Federal levels. He founded Somos America (We Are America) and co-founded Unidos en Arizona. He has also worked with organizations like Humane Borders and the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona.
Scope and Content Note
The Roberto Reveles Papers contain correspondence, photographs, newspaper clippings, organizational records, subject files, and other items documenting Reveles' career as a congressional staffer for five congressmen in Arizona, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C. between 1956 and 1980. His work as an advocate for civil rights and immigration reform in the Mexican and Mexican-American communities is also shown.
Series I: Personal includes correspondence, photographs, and artifacts. This series also contains files documenting Reveles' campaign for congress in 1972. Series II: Politics contains information about political figures and parties, political issues, special projects, and newspaper clippings dating from 1955 to 1990. Series III: Somos America documents the early history of this organization. Reveles and members of this group participated in a historic Phoenix march on April 10, 2006 in response to inhumane federal immigration laws. Series IV: Subject Files contains documents about organizations, people, locations, and subjects. These documents were originally collected and organized into subject files by Reveles, and this order has been retained.
Arrangement
This collection consists of sixty-three boxes divided into four series:
To view this collection, make an appointment at least five business days prior to your visit by contacting Ask an Archivist or calling (480) 965-4932. Appointments in the Wurzburger Reading Room at Hayden Library (rm. 138) on the Tempe campus are available Monday through Friday. Check the ASU Library Hours page for current availability.
Copyright
The Arizona Board of Regents retains copyright to this collection for and on behalf of the Arizona State University Library. Requests to publish, display, or redistribute information from this collection must be submitted via our online application.
