Progressive Pilgrim: Alma Reed and Felipe Carrillo Puerto's Revolutionary Yucatan. A Review of Alma Reed's <em>Peregrina: Love & Death in Mexico</em> con Intro. of M. K. Schuessler & Fwd. of Elena Poniatowska (Austin: U of Texas, 2007)

Authors

  • Ben Fallaw Colby College

Keywords:

Alma Reed, Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Yucantan history, Peregrina

Abstract

The romance of San Francisco journalist Alma Reed and Felipe Carrillo Puerto, revolutionary governor of Yucatán, ended abruptly only a few months after the two became engaged. Federal troops seconding the delahuertista coup assassinated Carrillo Puerto in the early morning of January 3, 1924. Their love has long remained a fascinating footnote in Carrillo Puerto’s life. Reed herself has been the subject of one biography (Passionate Pilgrim) and much erroneous speculation (that she was Jack Reed’s sister). She inspired the song “Peregrina,” which Carrillo Puerto had written to serenade her, and two forgettable Spanish-language films (including the film Peregrina in 1987). I suspect I am not the only student of Yucatecan history who knew so little about Alma Reed.

Author Biography

Ben Fallaw, Colby College

Ben Fallaw obtuvo su doctorado en Historia en la Universidad de Chicago (1995) y es actualmente profesor asociado en el departamento de historia de Colby College. Es autor del libro Cárdenas Compromised: The Failure of Reform in Postrevolutionary Yucatán (Durham: Duke University Press, 2001) y co-editor, con Samuel Brunk, de Heroes and Hero Cults in Latin America (University of Texas Press, 2006). En 2002, recibió la A.C.L.S. Charles Ryskamp Fellowship para realizar el proyecto de investigación titulado: "Between Revolution and Salvation: Catholics and the Formation of the Mexican State, 1929-1940."

Published

2007-08-01

How to Cite

Fallaw, B. (2007). Progressive Pilgrim: Alma Reed and Felipe Carrillo Puerto’s Revolutionary Yucatan. A Review of Alma Reed’s <em>Peregrina: Love & Death in Mexico</em> con Intro. of M. K. Schuessler & Fwd. of Elena Poniatowska (Austin: U of Texas, 2007). A Contracorriente: Una Revista De Estudios Latinoamericanos, 5(1), 402–411. Retrieved from https://acontracorriente.chass.ncsu.edu/index.php/acontracorriente/article/view/405

Issue

Section

Reviews: Intellectuals & Politics in Modern Mexico