Within a few years after immigrating from Mexico, José Rodriguez picked up a camera. He took photos of Mission San Xavier del Bac, Tucson buildings, mine workers, parades, his family and more.
"He had a camera with him all the time," said Rodriguez's son, Santiago Rodriguez.
Look at Rodriguez's photos today and you would not recognize Tucson of yesterday.
Rodriguez documented his Tucson from 1908 to 1920. The photographs are in the collection at the Arizona Historical Society, donated to the state repository by Rodgriguez's descendants. As part of a Rodriguez family reunion to be held over Labor Day weekend, some of Rodriguez's photos, camera, photography equipment and other memorabilia will be exhibited from noon until 3 p.m. Saturday at the society, 949 E. Second St.
"He was a self-taught man," said his granddaughter, Irene Rodriguez.
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José Rodriguez arrived in Territorial Tucson in 1907 from Guanajuato, in central Mexico, when he was 14 years old. Tucson's population was a little more than 13,000 people - not even enough to fill Arizona Stadium's eastern upper deck. He came here with his stepfather, mother and siblings.
He seemed to be an inquisitive young man and a self-starter, said his family.
Irene Rodriguez told the story of the day her grandfather went to Safford School downtown to take a look around. Someone asked him if he wanted to attend school, and he said yes.
He entered the first grade when he was 16 years old, she said. For two years, Julia Keene, his bilingual teacher, tutored him, Rodriguez added.
He left school because he had to work. "Although he had only two years of formal schooling, he kept learning," Irene said. "He even taught himself to play the mandolin."
He took a plumbers' correspondence class, said Santiago, 92, one of six children of José Rodriguez and Tucson native Rita Erique. The two married at St. Augustine Cathedral on Nov. 19, 1910.
In 1917 Rodriguez began working for the Southern Pacific Railroad, continuing in that job for 40 years.
As Tucson became home to Mexicans fleeing their country's revolution, he became active with mutual-aid groups such as the Porfirio Díaz Fraternal Organization and Alianza Hispana-Americana.
It was Rodriguez's good fortune to meet a New York City photographer in town one day. The family does not know the name of the photographer who took Rodriguez under his wing as his assistant.
Rodriguez was soon capturing his own images of Tucson. He lugged a large cumbersome camera, which he set up on a stand. The camera used plate glass negatives. He processed his own prints in a darkroom he built in his home at 218 E. 24th St., between South Fourth and Fifth Avenues.
With a good eye for detail and composition, the amateur photographer collected images of Tucson before, during and after World War I. The collection of more than 100 photographs includes landmarks such as the old Santa Rita Hotel, the University of Arizona, Mission San Xavier del Bac, the old St. Mary's Hospital sanatorium, and the Marist College for Boys behind the cathedral downtown. He also photographed railroad and mineworkers, Tucson businessmen, Chinese families and his own relatives.
Rodriguez and his wife had 11 children, two of whom died. Six of their sons served in the U.S. military in World War II, Korea and Vietnam.
The collection at the Historical Society contains photos taken up until 1920, but Rodriguez continued with his hobby for many years after, said his family. "He took pictures of everything and everyone," Irene said.
Rodriguez died May 8, 1991, a month shy of his 101st birthday.
The one-day exhibit is not the first for the Rodriguez collection. In 1996 the society held an exhibition of some of his work, "Through an Immigrant's Lens: José Rodriguez's View of His Adopted Land."
Fifteen years later, it is time to look through his lens again. Saturday's exhibit is open to the public, said Eric Gonzales of the Historical Society
"We wanted to do this exhibit one more time," Irene Rodriguez said, "for the younger generation."
If you go
What: An exhibit of some of José Rodriguez's photos, camera, photography equipment and other memorabilia.
When: noon until 3 p.m. Saturday
Where: Arizona Historical Society, 949 E. Second St.
"Although he had only two years of formal schooling, he kept learning. He even taught himself to play the mandolin."
Irene Rodriguez
Ernesto Portillo Jr. is editor of La Estrella de Tucsón. Contact him at netopjr@azstarnet.com or at 520-573-4187.
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