CUSLAR is proud to present the new book:

HISTORY IS OURS: Accounts of the Chilean coup and resettlement in Ithaca, New York

by Bridget Tobin and Tim Shenk

History Is Ours is a collection of testimonies and analysis of the Chilean political process by people who resettled in Ithaca, New York after the 1973 coup d’etat. 

CUSLAR Press, 2014. Paperback, 72 pages. $10.

History Is Ours is an invaluable work of oral history which tells a small but important part of the story of the Chilean post-1973 diaspora to the United States. Bridget Tobin and Tim Shenk have done a masterful job of collecting and editing the stories into a narrative that is compelling to read.

Jonathan Ablard, Professor of History, Ithaca College

Overview:

September 11, 2013 marked the 40th Anniversary of a devastating moment in the history of the democratic process. The 1973 coup d’état in Chile overthrew the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende and installed a military junta regime for the next 17 years.

Organizations like the Ithaca, New York-based Committee on U.S.-Latin American Relations (CUSLAR) and the ecumenical group Friends of Chile worked to uncover the truth about the coup in Chile. The organizations also sponsored the relocation to Ithaca of Chilean students and families who had been imprisoned or were in danger.

This volume is a series of testimonies from some of those people who resettled in Ithaca. The testimonies represent a unique contribution to understanding a historical moment whose specter still haunts our hemisphere. The combination of personal narratives and astute analysis of the Chilean political process makes the text a valuable resource for students and scholars — and indeed, anyone who would seek a window into the extremes of human behavior and the resilience of a people who, despite it all, survives.

Orders: contact us at cuslar@cornell.edu.