Historical location of Our Lady of Guadalupe

The historical address of the first Mexican Catholic church on Roosevelt St. in Southwest Detroit can no longer be located on modern day maps. Named ‘Our Lady of Guadalupe’, the church’s closest address marks an empty lot leaving all of the cultural history attached to the church by the Mexican immigrants who established it lost. Against the United States implementation of different systemic measures to attempt to keep Mexican immigrant laborers socially immobile and economically limited, the immigrants who sought opportunities within industrial Detroit built the foundation for a prosperous Mexican community. Blooming with financial and social aid from the churches that could be found in Detroit, Mexican immigrants were able to establish a vast social network and create a place for themselves within American society. On the other hand, the United States government persecution of Mexican immigrants during the 1930s led to devastation in Detroit’s Mexican community, the effects of which can be seen in the empty lots that once housed Our Lady of Guadalupe.

On 5301 Roosevelt St. in southwest Detroit stands an empty plot of land that once was home to the first Mexican Catholic church in the midwest. Established in 1923, the church that served as an oasis for Mexican immigrants looking for a place to worship within Detroit was named Our Lady of Guadalupe. As the United States government brought over Mexican laborers for agriculture in the late 19th to early 20th century, systemic and overt oppression installed during this period from the U.S. government and society in the 1930s, meant that Mexican immigrants were ostracized from all economic and social opportunities. Nevertheless, the population of Mexicans in southwest Detroit grew exponentially as many searched for employment in the Motor City, establishing a flourishing community coined Mexicantown. Our Lady of Guadalupe, The Catholic church established in Detroit’s Mexicantown, effectively highlights the way in which Mexican immigrants instituted a community for themselves within the United States against the immense discrimination present within the early 20th century.  

As the United States industrialized in the early 20th century, and with the beginning of World War I, American citizens began to move to cities and factories in search of better economic opportunities, leaving many agricultural companies without a strong workforce. With many Mexicans seeking refuge from the Mexican revolution during this time, many American companies turned to Mexican immigrant labor assisted by the United States Department of Labor, which removed many immigration requirements for Mexicans looking at agricultural work within the United States.^[1] As the government created these measures to bring over Mexican laborers, this guestworker program was carefully created in order to entrap the temporary Mexican immigrants exclusively into agricultural work.^[2] As these laborers were subjected to immense discrimination and oppression from the companies at which they were employed, many pursued higher paying jobs in industrial Detroit, leading to many settling within the motor city against the government attempts to keep Mexican immigrants isolated in agriculture.^[3] Companies also used this new labor force to create the narrative in the United States that Mexican immigrants were disposable laborers, leading both corporations and society to ostracize Mexicans from assimilating into American society.           

As many Mexican immigrants began to move into Detroit for more economic opportunities, American society began adopting the maltreatment of these laborers, where housing and industrial opportunities for Mexicans were withheld under the notion that they were temporary workers within the United States. With many Mexican immigrants practicing Catholicism, multiple Catholic churches within Detroit provided basic living necessities and temporary housing to these incoming settlers.^[4] This financial support from the church allowed for Mexican immigrants to find refuge within southwest Detroit from the terrible conditions in agriculture work and the systemic discrimination from the government which attempted to ostracize Mexicans from U.S. society and limit their opportunities. However, many Catholic churches in southwest Detroit were predominantly Eastern European parishes who more often than not excluded Mexican settlers from participating in mass and gaining other church benefits.^[5] The first Mexican Catholic church within the midwest, Our Lady of Guadalupe, opened in 1923, providing a safe haven for Mexicans in Detroit to worship, attracting many who had fled the 3 year long Cristero Revolution in Mexico which persecuted Catholics.^[6] Our Lady of Guadalupe served not only as a refuge for those searching for freedom from religious persecution in Mexico and exclusion in Detroit, it also served as a center for social networking for Mexican immigrants within Detroit.

Our Lady of Guadalupe held massive potential for socializing with other Mexican immigrants, quickly allowing for a community of Mexicans to be established within southwest Detroit in the early 20th century. With 5,000 Mexicans settling in Detroit in the 1920s and growing to 15,000 by the 1930, Our Lady of Guadalupe served as a way to connect the community together.^[7] Celebrating both the Mexican Independence Day and the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe as a community, southwest Detroit began to boast Mexican pride throughout the area.^[8] Christiana Castillo describes her great grandparents' neighborhood during this period as small homes that housed “family, friends, and other immigrants”.^[9] With this closely knit and exponentially growing community, many different businesses, such as grocery stores, were established within southwest Detroit. Many different Spanish newspapers also were established during this growth period, the first being El Eco de la Patria.^[10] These Mexican businesses later coined the term Mexicantown for the community of Mexican immigrants which had established themselves in Detroit against the U.S. government's best attempts to force them to be unable to permanently settle anywhere within the United States. ^[11]

Nevertheless, the United States government’s previous portrayal of Mexican laborers as disposable would prove to devastate newly founded Mexicantown Detroit during the Great Depression. As unemployment rates skyrocketed to 25% in the United during the 1930s Great Depression, many Mexican immigrants were scapegoated for the lack of employment available in cities such as Detroit. This unjust blame only worsened the previous notion of these laborers being seen as disposable leading to a repatriation program.^[12] Over one million Mexicans in the United States being forcefully deported back to Mexico, with estimated 60% of whom were actually U.S. natural-born citizens.^[13] Many resources were spent by church and social welfare programs to convince Mexican families to return to Mexico.^[14] In addition, famous Mexican muralist Diego Rivera and his wife Frida Khalo helped to push propaganda used to convince Mexican immigrants to leave.^[15] Without the resources present in the 1920s which helped many Mexican families settle in the United States, many were forced to migrate to other parts of the United States or leave for Mexico. In 1936, the Mexican population in Detroit’s Mexicantown was recorded to be around 1,200. Along with this massive loss of community came the absence of attendees of Our Lady of Guadalupe, slowing church activities in southwest Detroit that would prove difficult to rebuild in the coming years.^[16] Although Mexicantown in Detroit would begin to rebuild again with help of the Bracero program in the 1940s, the devastation of the once culturally rich community within Detroit would struggle to recover from the government forced mass deportations and further oppression.

Our Lady of Guadalupe serves as a historical marker that illustrates the foundation and devastation of the culturally vibrant community that Mexicans established against the United States demands for their spots in the country to be temporary. The U.S. government's mass deportations that lead to low church activities for establishments such as Our Lady of Guadalupe is most likely the reason for the absence of the church's presence in modern day Mexicantown. Nevertheless, the first Mexican Catholic church in the midwest serves as a reminder of the ways in which many Mexicans in Detroit fought to create a permanent space for themselves and their families.

^[1] Mapes, Kathleen, Sweet Tyranny: Migrant Labor, Industrial Agriculture, and Imperial Politics (University of Illinois Press, 2009), 123, ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/michstate-ebooks/detail.action?docID=3414073.

^[2] Mapes, Sweet Tyranny, 128-129.

^[3] Mapes, Sweet Tyranny, 136-137.

^[4] Vargas, Zaragosa, Life and Community in the ‘Wonderful City of the Magic Motor: Mexican Immigrants in 1920s Detroit (Michigan Historical Review 15,1989), 58, https://doi.org/10.2307/20173156

^[5] Vargas, Mexican Immigrants in 1920s Detroit, 59.

^[6] Britton, John, “Cristero Rebellion”, Encylopedia.com, accessed August 17, 2023, https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/cristero-rebellion

^[7] Vargas, Mexican Immigrants in 1920s Detroit, 46.

^[8] Vargas, Mexican Immigrants in 1920s Detroit, 61.

^[9] Castillo, Christianna, “Finding Refuge in Southwest Detroit,” Belt Magazine, 2020, https://beltmag.com/southwest-detroit-latinx-refuge/.

^[10] Vargas, Mexican Immigrants in 1920s Detroit, 63-64.

^[11] Maria Elena Rodriguez, Elena Herrada, “Season 5 - Episode 8: A Century of Mexicantown,” interview by Tim Kiska, The Detroit History Podcast, 2022, audio, 18:23, https://detroithistorypodcast.com/podcast/a-century-of-mexicantown/

^[12] Dwyer, Dustin, “How thousands of Mexican Workers were sent away from Michigan, with the help of Diego Rivera,” State of Opportunity, 2016, https://stateofopportunity.michiganradio.org/research/2016-03-10/how-thousands-of-mexican-workers-were-sent-away-from-michigan-with-the-help-of-diego-rivera.

^[13] Zielin, Lara, “The Depression, Deportation, and Detroit,” LSA Magazine, 2011, http://www.elmuseodelnorte.org/uploads/3/6/1/0/3610241/um_lsa_article_2011.pdf.

^[14] Elena Rodriguez, Herrada, interview.

^[15] Zielin, “The Depression, Deportation, and Detroit.”

^[16] Vargas, Mexican Immigrants in 1920s Detroit, 67. 

Britton, John. n.d. “Cristero Rebellion.” Encyclopedia.com. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/cristero-rebellion.

Castillo, Christiana. 2020. “Finding Refuge in Southwest Detroit.” Belt Magazine. https://beltmag.com/southwest-detroit-latinx-refuge/.

Dwyer, Dustin. 2016. “How thousands of Mexican workers were sent away from Michigan, with the help of Diego Rivera.” State of Opportunity. https://stateofopportunity.michiganradio.org/research/2016-03-10/how-thousands-of-mexican-workers-were-sent-away-from-michigan-with-the-help-of-diego-rivera.

Elena Rodriguez, Maria, Elena Herrada, and Tim Kiska. 2022. “Season 5 - Episode 8: A Century of Mexicantown.” The Detroit History Podcast. https://detroithistorypodcast.com/podcast/a-century-of-mexicantown/.

El Museo Del Norte. n.d. “About Us.” El Museo del Norte. Accessed August 17, 2023. http://www.elmuseodelnorte.org/about-us.html. 

 Mapes, Kathleen. 2009. Sweet Tyranny: Migrant Labor, Industrial Agriculture, and Imperial Politics. University of Illinois Press. ProQuest Ebook Central. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/michstate-ebooks/detail.action?docID=3414073. 

Vargas, Zaragosa. “Life and Community in the ‘Wonderful City of the Magic Motor’: Mexican Immigrants in 1920s Detroit.” Michigan Historical Review 15, no. 1 (1989): 45–68. https://doi.org/10.2307/20173156. 

Zielin, Lara. 2011. “The Depression, Deportation, and Detroit.” LSA Magazine. http://www.elmuseodelnorte.org/uploads/3/6/1/0/3610241/um_lsa_article_2011.pdf.