Jonathan C. Brown - Oil and Revolution in Mexico (1993)

Preferred Citation: Brown, Jonathan C. Oil and Revolution in
Mexico. Berkeley: University of California Press, c1992 1993.
http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft3q2nb28s/
Oil and Revolution in Mexico
Jonathan C. Brown
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
Berkeley · Los Angeles · Oxford
© 1993 The Regents of the University of California
For G. Franklin and Cynthia Ingalls Brown
Preferred Citation: Brown, Jonathan C. Oil and Revolution in
Mexico. Berkeley: University of California Press, c1992 1993.
http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft3q2nb28s/
For G. Franklin and Cynthia Ingalls Brown
Preface
This book may be about Mexico's future as well as its past. After a decade of
economic decline, the country's politicians have begun a crusade to integrate
Mexico into the world economy and to attract foreign capital. Historians are
right to view the new openness with some skepticism. They have, after all,
seen it before. At the end of the nineteenth century, Porfirio Díaz once
accomplished what Mexico's leaders are now attempting. That exceptional
period of economic modernization was succeeded by a revolution. No careful
academician claims to foresee the future, but I would suggest that the road
the Mexicans travel during the next several decades will be a familiar one. A
historical journey over the old route, therefore, would be profitable.
So many persons have helped me in this endeavor that I find it difficult
to name them in order of importance. Somewhere near the top of the list
would be the late Henrietta Larson, who launched me on this project a
decade ago when she sent me her materials on the Latin American
operations of the Standard Oil Company (New Jersey). John Tutino deserves
credit for telling Larson about me. Together, they helped me return to
academia.
My pursuit of the documentary evidence was assisted by Ed Glab, John
Oldfield, and L. Philo Maier for Standard Oil; Geoff Jones, A.F. Peters, and
Veronica Davies for Shell; Kay Bost and Dawn Letson for DeGolyer; Michael
C. Sutherland, Rita S. Faulders, and Msgr. Francis J. Weber for Doheny;
Pablo Casanova and Carlos Lomelín for Pemex; and Friedrich Katz with lots of
leads.
― xii ―
Student research assistants have been instrumental in collecting (and
understanding) much of the material. I have had the capable services of Kurt
Weyland, Kevin Kelly, Joe Schreider, Elizabeth Feldmann, Alfredo Poenitz,
and Adrian Bantjes.
The researcher also needs financial patronage. I have been assisted by
grants from the American Council of Learned Societies and the National
Endowment for the Humanities. The University of Texas at Austin has been
generous as well: I have received assistance from the Public Policy Research
Institute, the University Research Institute, the Mellon research fund of the
Institute of Latin American Studies, and the Dora Bonham endowment of the
history department.
Numerous persons also gave freely of their material and spiritual
encouragement. Jack Womack and John Wirth wrote often and unsparingly,
offering advice and letters of support. Others include Mira Wilkins, Alfred
Chandler, Laura Randall, Colin Lewis, Jordan Schwarz, Eric Van Young,
George Baker, Michael Meyer, and Jim Wilkie. Tina and Freddy Kent gave me
shelter in London and took in my family too. Bruce and Jean Wollenberg and
Kay Willis put up with us in Santa Barbara; Marty and Carolyn Melosi
tolerated us in Washington, D.C., even though they live in Houston. How can
I forget Chitraporn Tanratanakul, with her "placas diplomáticas" whisking me
through the Mexico City traffic? Both she and Enrique Ochoa collected my
microfilm and photocopies long after I had gone. In Mexico, Carlos Marichal,
Juan Manuel de la Serna, Jorge Ruedas de la Serna, Cristina González, Víctor
Godínez, and María Elena Brady provided hospitality. Pieter and Gesina
Emmer and Stan and Ruth Brown offered hospitality in the Netherlands and
Germany. I owe special thanks to Max and Ethel Gruber, who helped us
during the hard times.
Among those who read and commented on parts of the manuscript were
Patrick Carroll, Peter Linder, and Alan Knight (the latter, an inspirational
colleague during his tenure as a Longhorn). But Steven Topik saved the book
by introducing me to the University of California Press. Editor Eileen
McWilliam and two outside evaluators reviewed the manuscript in record
time, and now the readers can judge the result.
In the years it took me to research and write this book, the members of
my family continued their own quests. Lynore moved with me from Santa
Barbara to DeKalb to Austin. While pursuing her own career in education
administration, she provided me with the kind of advice every author needs.
Each of her suggestions has been right. Jason, who
― xiii ―
had already survived one book, went from grade-school to university
student, and Adam moved from the cradle to grade school. It all proves that
time does not stop just because one guy wants to relive the past.
A final caveat is in order. I did not realize u...