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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The further I progress into my academic career, the more I learn that the schol- arly enterprise of research and writing is an exciting and challenging one of build- ing intellectual communities and enduring collaborative partnerships. I was not only very fortunate that Wendi Schnaufer of Greenwood Press contacted me to embark on this audacious project, but also that she skillfully and with a generous sense of humor guided me through what has been at times a labyrinthine process. I greatly appreciate the diligent work of all the contributors to these volumes and their patience with me as I pestered them with e-mails requesting the latest draft of their chapters. Their pioneering work will be a resource and inspiration for oth- ers in the years to come. My academic community throughout this adventure has included many of the administrative and custodial workers, students and faculty at the University of Connecticut. I am very grateful to the diligent custodial staff members—all of them Latinas—that continue to maintain my office in a sem- blance of order. I have been inspired and challenged by my undergraduate and graduate students over the past four years, and I thank them for their participa- tion as critical readers of various ideas and writings present in this encyclopedia. In particular, Damian Nemirovsky and Michael Neagle merit special credit for their work on the census data chart and respective chapters. My colleagues in the history department and elsewhere have been very welcoming and giving of their time and encouragement. In particular, I have been blessed to receive large doses of critical insight and advice from my compañeros and mentors Blanca Silvestrini, Guillermo Irizarry, and Enrique Sepúlveda.