Voices of La Lydia

Voices of La Lydia has genuine importance as Texas history. An account of the Lydia Patterson Institute over the past century shows El Paso at its finest and vividly demonstrates the positive power of faith in transforming American communities. But the book has something beyond purely historical value. It is, above all, a visionary volume. It presents a glimpse of what, on a local level, American philanthropy and Christian charity can accomplish together.  

If you enjoy discovering hidden gems in the world of education by hearing from the participants themselves, this is the book for you. It shares the story of Lydia Patterson Institute - a Methodist mission school established in El Paso, Texas in 1913. In Voices of La Lydia, the founders, selected administrators, faculty, students and alumni tell of its beginnings as a ministerial school for Mexican boys, its provision for refugees from the Mexican Revolution, its English as a Second Language program, and its current-day success as a co-educational college preparatory school. Through their reflections, the El Paso-Juarez bridge takes on complex meanings of personal growth and the merging of two cultures, both within the students' consciousness and within two societies. I am grateful for this gateway into Lydia Patterson Institute's rich and inspiring history, which - by extension - is our history, too.  

This jewel of a book tells the fascinating story of Lydia Patterson Institute through the voices of its leaders, teachers, and students. But more than that, Voices of La Lydia opens a window to the rich merging of cultures, relationships, and communities inherent in any worthy mission that bridges divides, even those as literal as the Rio Grande.  

For more than three centuries Cuidad Juárez and the City of El Paso have been watered by the Great River that flows between them. Yet, in all that time neither city has had anyone more devoted to enrichening and reconciling them both than Adair Margo. In Voices of La Lydia, she has created a beautiful book that combines art and history by celebrating the lives of historic characters who made life better for others on either side of the Rio Grande. Her book reflects scholarship, acute perception, imagination and, above all, love of her fellow citizens, whether Mexican or American. She is a living bridge between them.