Primary Sources on Raul H. Castro
Librarian and Curator of Political Affairs and History of Science Collections
Special Collections Department
1510 E. University Blvd. C211
P.O. Box 210055
Tucson, AZ 85721-0055
Who was Raúl Héctor Castro?
Raúl Héctor Castro was born in Cananea, (Sonora) Mexico, but raised in Douglas, Arizona. While serving as a Spanish instructor at the University of Arizona, he began his law career which eventually led to his appointment by Lyndon B. Johnson as the U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador, and then Bolivia. Castro served as the 14th governor of Arizona from 1975 to 1977, but resigned when Jimmy Carter offered him the ambassadorship to Argentina. He resigned in 1980 to resume his law practice which focused on international and immigration law.
The Raul Castro Papers Collection Guide (MS 417) document his career in public service from his election as a Pima County judge in 1958 through three U.S. ambassadorships (El Salvador 1964-1968, Bolivia 1968-1969, and Argentina 1977-1980) as well as the governorship of Arizona (1974-1977).
The collection also contains material highlighting his education and sports activities at Arizona State Teacher's College (now Northern Arizona University), his legal education at the University of Arizona, his private law practice, his family life, and his personal and business interests. The collection is organized into eleven series (one series, Photographic Material, is subdivided into four subseries). The collection also contains correspondence, news clippings, subject files, governor files, law practice files, photographic material, audiovisual material, objects, and scrapbooks.
Media and Oral History Interviews
- 2012 Interview with Dr. Jack August on his book: Adversity is My Angel: The Life of Raul CastroCo-author and Historian Dr. Jack August Jr. talks about Adversity is My Angel: The Life and Career of Raul H. Castro. The book traces the life of Raul H. Castro, the first and only Hispanic governor of Arizona, through his childhood as a Mexican immigrant to his election as governor of the state and presidential appointments as ambassador to El Salvador, Bolivia, and Argentina.
- 2019 Interview with Playwright, James Garcia on "American Dreamer- Raul Castro"A conversion on Playwright James Garcia: American Dreamer – Raul H Castro, including a brief bio on our guests Playwright James Garcia and Poet Anna Flores, and a discussion on Latinos and theater, and the wonderful life and work of late Governor Mexican-American Raul H. Castro.
- 2019 Oral History Interview with Beth CastroDiscusses her father's career in politics
Books and Articles
Adversity of My Angel by Call Number: Special Collections (Non Circulating) F815.3.C37 A3 2009ISBN: 9780875653785Publication Date: 2009-05-28Adversity Is My Angel by Raul H. Castro; Jack L. August
ISBN: 9780875653785
Publication Date: 2009-05-28
Raúl H. Castro was the first Hispanic governor of Arizona, ambassador to El Salvador, Bolivia, and Argentina, lawyer, judge, and teacher. Born in Mexico in 1916, he moved with his family to a small mining community in Arizona in 1926. His earliest memories include collecting cactus fruit in the desert for food. His childhood served as a metaphor for Mexican and American attitudes of mutual suspicion and distrust. Castro, nevertheless, defied the odds and, thanks to an athletic scholarship, entered Arizona State Teachers College where he graduated in 1939. By then an American citizen, he worked for the U.S. State Department as a foreign service officer at Agua Prieta, Sonora and then entered the University of Arizona College of Law. He was admitted to the Arizona bar in 1949. After practicing law in Tucson for several years, he became deputy Pima County attorney. In 1954, he was elected county attorney and served until 1958, when he became a Pima County Superior Court Judge. President Lyndon Johnson appointed Castro U.S. ambassador to Salvador in 1964 and to Bolivia in 1969. Castro was elected governor on the Democratic Party ticket in 1974 but an appointment as ambassador to Argentina interrupted his term. Raul Castro's story suggests much about the human spirit, the ability to overcome institutional and personal prejudice, and the hope inherent in the American dream.- Raul Castro byCall Number: Special Collections (Non-Circulating) F815.3.C37 W39 2011ISBN: 9781935089407Publication Date: 2011-01-01Profiles the man, his life, and accomplishments as an ambassador and governor.
