Querencia Chandler

Querencia Chandler 

Role: Oral Historian (Principal Investigator)

“Querencia is that which gives us a sense of place, that which anchors us to the land, that which makes us a unique people, for it implies a deeply rooted knowledge of place, and for that reason we respect it as our home." – Juan Estevan Arellano

Querencia Chandler is an ongoing project that collects the oral histories from the Latinx community in Chandler, Arizona from the historical barrios that go back to the founding of the town in 1912. Currently, Chandler is the fourth largest-city in Arizona and the Latinx community is the largest ethnic community. 

In 2023, I collected the oral histories of twelve community members. Together, they represent various timeframes and neighborhoods within Chandler. Participants explored the inter-generational themes and issues that impacted their communities – like the immigration Roundup in 1997 and diversity in a growing city. Regardless of each generation’s struggles, there is a devotion to helping Chandler thrive. 

In 2024, I organized a research team consisting of academics, community members, and museum city-employees and our proposal received a Knowledge Exchange for Resilience (KER) Alumni Fellowship Grant to expand the number of oral histories. Our team is currently collecting oral histories and we anticipate expanding the oral histories to twenty-five to thirty new oral histories to reach a threshold of forty to forty-five total oral histories for the Latinx community in Chandler. 

The oral histories are digitally and physically archived in collaboration with the Chandler Museum. The initial twelve oral histories can be found on their archival website ChandlerPedia.

In collaboration with the Chandler Museum, we have hosted two exhibits since the birth of the project. First exhibit was at the Chandler Museum during Hispanic Heritage Month from September-October of 2023. The second exhibit is currently up at the ASU Chandler Innovation Center (ACIC). 

Here are two stories with coverage of the project from Arizona State University: