The teacher designation of the painter Frida Kahlo and other outstanding personnel
Learn about the teacher appointments of painters Frida Kahlo and Pablo O'Higgins or writers Salvador Novo and Xavier Villaurrutia, as well as other famous and outstanding staff.
The death certificate of José Vasconcelos; some engravings by José Guadalupe Posadas; sketches by José Clemente Orozco; teacher appointments of painters Frida Kahlo and Pablo O'Higgins or writers Salvador Novo and Xavier Villaurrutia; as well as documentation of outstanding teachers such as Bertha Von Glümer and Eulalia Guzman are some of the diverse documents that the AGN keeps in the documentary series " Outstanding Personnel" belonging to the Historical Archive of the Ministry of Public Education.
During José López Portillo's term of office, some administrative reforms regarding statistical and archival information were promoted. These coincided with the informative search for the commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Secretariat of Public Education (SEP). These events served as the basis for the creation of a historical archive in the field of education.
Within this documentary repository, information is recorded in the series entitled "Outstanding Personnel", which is divided into an alphabetical list, by surname, where you can find various documents related to people who have left a mark, for having excelled in their work or contributed knowledge in various fields of culture and knowledge, and of whom mention is made based on the activity in which they excelled.
Writers
Within the world of letters, Amado Nervo stands out, of whom are preserved trades related to his incursion as a substitute teacher and up to his becoming a regular teacher of the subjects of National Language and Commented Reading of literary works at the Escuela Nacional Preparatoria (National Preparatory School). Within the category of poets, the appointment of Gabriela Mistral as a commissioner for the writing of children's reading books within the Editorial Department of the SEP is noteworthy, as well as the incursion of Jaime Torres Bodet as a teacher of General Literature in the same Preparatory School and his time as head of libraries in the same Secretariat.
Also noteworthy are the records of affiliation to the Ministry of Education as group teachers of the writers Xavier Villaurrutia, Salvador Novo, and José Revueltas, whose documents show photographs of their faces, front and profile, as well as a description of their physical characteristics. Other literary figures that stand out within the collection are Octavio Paz, Francisco Bulnes, Salvador Díaz Mirón and José Gorostiza.
Painters
In another category of the arts, we can find characters linked to the different styles of painting, such as José Clemente Orozco. From this personage, we can rescue trades where he is designated as an assistant teacher at the elementary school level at the beginning of the XX century, to later years to become a drawing teacher at the National School of Fine Arts. In this last activity, he left some sketches of drawings that today are part of his dossier. Other muralists who taught there were David Alfaro Siqueiros and Diego Rivera.
Frida Kahlo was also affiliated as a teacher of drawing and manual works in the Department of Fine Arts. Pablo O'Higgins, an American painter who became a Mexican citizen, taught drawing and plastic arts at the elementary school level. Another icon of Mexican culture that stands out within the SEP's historical archive is José Guadalupe Posadas, whose documentation refers to material that was held of his authorship, such as some engravings used for a commemorative exhibition of his work.
Teaching
The teaching profession cannot pass without mentioning certain historical figures who dedicated their work and effort to bring knowledge to the most disadvantaged classes and minorities. One of them was Eulalia Guzmán, who, once graduated from the National School of Teachers, dedicated herself to teaching Cosmography and General Geography at the Normal School for Teachers. She also dedicated part of her professional activity to promoting the education of women, especially working women. Another woman who contributed to teaching knowledge was Bertha Von Glümer, a Mexican of German origin, who stood out for her contribution to the development of women teachers, applying modern educational models and methods.
On the other hand, the revolutionaries Carmen Serdán and Elisa Acuña also worked for education at the teacher's level and primary instruction. Both exercised their profession mainly in the rural areas of Hidalgo and Puebla, respectively. Among the documentation, José Vasconcelos also stands out as part of the revolutionary teachers' union, who was Secretary of Education and Rector of the National University.
Humanities and other arts
Within the Historical Archive of the Ministry of Public Education, we can find people from different disciplines. One of them is history, a science in which Edmundo O'Gorman, whose affiliation as a local school teacher, with a contract of 3 hours of class per week, stands out. Historian Daniel Cosío Villegas and archeologist Alfonso Caso Andrade also appear in the files. On the other hand, in the musical field, Silvestre Revueltas, Jose Pablo Moncayo and Carlos Chávez stand out as music teachers in the Bellas Artes institutes.
In August 2012, the Ministry of Public Education placed more than 12 thousand boxes of great historical value belonging to its collection under the AGN's safekeeping.
