Samoralegacy

Dr. Julian Samora
Born	March 3, 1920 Pagosa Springs, Colorado, USA
Died	February 1, 1996 Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
Known for	Professor, Activist

Early Life

Julian Samora was born on March 1, 1920 in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. In 1938, he won a scholarship to attend Adams State Teachers College located in Alamosa, Colorado. In 1939 his mother, Carmen Samora, died when Julian was only 19 years old. By 1942, Julian obtained a B.A. in History and Political Science from Adams State. During the same year, Julian married Betty Archuleta on November 27, 1942 in Monte Vista, Colorado. Julian recieved his first teaching assignment at Huerfano County High School in 1943. His first child, Julian Robert Samora, was born on October 11, 1943 in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Education & Career

From 1944-1948, Samora was the Associate Director at San Luis Institute of Arts and Crafts in San Luis, Colorado. In 1947 he Received his M.S. in Sociology from Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado.His son, David Dennis Samora, was born on May 18, 1947 in Alamosa, Colorado. From 1948-1949 he was a teaching assistant at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. In 1952 Samora was a graduate student of Sociology/Anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1951 his daughter Carmen Mary Ruth Samora was born on August 24 in Denver, Colorado. By 1953 Samora became the first Mexican-American to receive a Ph.D. in Sociology/Anthropology in the United States. Another son, Francis Geoffrey Samora, was born on August 15, 1953 in Alamosa, Colorado. In 1954 Samora was a visiting professor at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The next year in 1955, Samora became an Asst. Prof. of Preventative Medicine and Public Health at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. From 1957-1959 Samora was an Associate Prof. of Sociology/Anthropology at Michigan State University. In 1958, John Mark Samora was born on May 20 in Denver, Colorado. From 1959-1985, Samora was a Professor of Sociology/Anthropology at the University of Notre Dame. From 1963-1966 he acted as the Head of the Department of Sociology/Anthropology at Notre Dame. In 1963, he was Visiting Prof. at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia in Bogota, Colombia. Samora was a visiting professor of the English Department of the University of California - Los Angeles during the summer of 1964. By 1966, Samora became the program advisor in population for the Ford Foundation in Mexico. In 1968, Samora Co-founded the Southwest Council of La Raza with Dr. Ernesto Galarza and Herman Gallegos. In 1971, Samora became Director of the Mexican-American Graduate Studies Program that awarded advance degrees to 50 students in Law, Economics, Sociology, History, Psychology and Political Science. In 1972, The Southwest Council of La Raza became the National Council of La Raza. In 1975, his son Julian Robert Samora died. Four years later, in 1979, Betty Samora died. By 1985, Dr. Samora retired from the University of Notre Dame, and in 1989 The Julian Samora Research Institute (the first research institute named for a Latino) was established at Michigan State University. On February 2, 1996 Julian Samora died in Albuquerque, New Mexico.