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Rural Communities: A Case Study of Lexington, Nebraska University of Nebraska-Omaha University of Kansas In the spring of 1989, funded by the University of Nebraska-Omaha,
Lourdes Gouveia selected Lexington, Nebraska, as a site to examine
the changes expected to result from the opening of a large meatpacking
plant and the arrival of Latinos. The selection was based on
consultations with staff from the Center for Rural Affairs in
Walthill, Nebraska, which had closely monitored the farm crisis
of the 1980's. It was also based on consultations with Don Stull
of the University of Kansas, who had conducted a similar study
in Garden City, Kansas and had visited Lexington earlier in 1989.
In the summer of the same year, Don Stull and Michael Broadway,
from State University of New York-Geneseo, received funding from
their respective universities to begin research in Lexington.
Through a coordinated effort, we began collecting baseline socioeconomic
and demographic data and interviewing key informants. At that
time, the presence of new Latino migrants in town was barely
perceptible. Thus, our initial efforts were directed at interviewing
and collecting information from individuals representing the
various agencies and community segments we expected to be most
affected by the incoming changes. The Aspen Institute and the
Ford Foundation funded the team to conduct additional work during
1992, and the University of Kansas funded Stan Moore, a bilingual
doctoral student to conduct fieldwork during the same year. Lourdes
Gouveia has received additional funding on a relatively continuous
basis since her first entry into the community which has allowed
her to follow Latinos and Latinas' migration and settlement trajectories
since their initial arrival in Lexington. Hardcopy Price: $3.00
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