Las adelitas

LAS ADELITAS

The picture above called “Las Adelitas” is one of the most famous pictures in Mexican history. It was taken on April of 1912 by photographer Jeronimo Hernandez at the Buenavistatrain station in Mexico City, and was latter on published in the news paper Modernismo Nueva Era. The picture shows a group of women with notorious indigenous traits, most of them carrying a “rebozo” andwearing neither shoes nor fancy clothes, signifying their poor background. "Las Adelitas" are shown in a group all together highlighting their possible unity, while some of them hold baskets to theirsides, perhaps containing food. The woman at the far left corner of the picture, who is wearing a rebozo around her forehead, is Altagracia Martinez and comes from Chihuahua Mexico. Altagracia seemsvery vigilant as if hiding from someone. At the same time it is notorious how she is a brave person, just like the other women around her who also show a strong facial expression. Based on thehistory of México, the Adelitas accompanied the Mexican soldiers to battle, not as women but as soldiers. The Adelitas used to carry the riffles of the defeated soldiers in battle, and by doing this, theyhad weapons to fight against the ejercito federal. The Adelitas were not just fighting in battle, but some were also nurses who helped those soldiers who got hurt in the battle field; some other wereused as spies to find out about the strategy of the enemy. During this time there were no telephones, for which the Adelitas worked on the telegraphs. They also took care of the soldiers, for examplethey would cook for them. The Adelitas were all over the place, and as we can appreciate in the picture, they stayed in big groups for security. The context of this particular picture is to show thespectator that the Adelitas were something essential during the Mexican Revolution period. Without the participation of the Adelitas, the Mexican revolution would not have occurred. Another primary...