Andrés Reséndez ’85 led a Fireside Chat at UWC-USA president Victoria Mora’s home on his 2016 book The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America. Nominated for a National Book Award, winner of the 2017 California Book Awards in nonfiction, and the 2017 Bancroft Prize from Columbia University, The Other Slavery recounts the historical, economic, and cultural issues surrounding Indian enslavement in the Southwest and Northern Mexico.
A Fireside Chat is an opportunity for UWC-USA alumni or other thought leaders connected to the UWC-USA community to share their research or perspective in an informal setting.
Andrés introduced himself to the gathering of students and faculty and then shared key elements of his book. He concluded with a question and answer sessions where students asked about his work.
In the introduction to The Other Slavery, Andrés explains how his research shaped his understanding of the topic. “The more I learned, the more I became convinced that the other slavery had been a defining aspect of North American societies. And yet it has been almost completely erased from our historical memory. At last count there were more than fifteen thousand books on African slavery, whereas only a couple of dozen specialized monographs were devoted to Indian slavery.”
Andrés, who was born in Mexico City, was a member of one of the very first UWC-USA graduating classes and was pleased to return to campus to share his journey and research with the UWC-USA community.