Dr. Donald Davis

NG20 dalton book -- Perla Trevizo Staff Writer

Over the last 30 years Dalton has become a new border town, according to a new book by past and present Dalton State College faculty and community members.

"Voices from the Nueva Frontera: Latino Immigration in Dalton, Georgia," combines a historical impact study and an oral history of Hispanic immigrants living in the mill town and surrounding areas. It is being published this week the University of Tennessee Press.

"This is the new border town, sort of the Latino capital 1,200 miles from the Mexican border," said Dr. Donal Davis, professor of sociology at Dalton State college. He co-wrote and co-edited the 216-page book.

"We felt we knew the population very well -- here at the college, 11 percent of our students are Latino," he said. "So we felt we had to write a book that did a more accurate history of what happened in the Dalton-Whitfield community, but we also wanted to feature the Latino individuals themselves."

Dr. Davis said he and the other authors started interviewing Hispanic residents in 2003 and completed the book in 2008.

Since Hispanics started moving to the area, some attitudes toward immigration have grown negative, University of Georgia demographer Doug Bachtel said.

"To shed knowledge on (the subject) is a good thing, because with that knowledge comes understanding," Dr. Bachtel said about the book. "It's a step towards the right direction because there's a lot of misinformation out there."

The book's four sections deal with the economic impact of immigration; Hispanic culture; education issues and social problems that often arise when a large number of immigrants moves into rural America.

Each chapter ends with the personal story of a Hispanic resident, an aspect of the book that makes it unique, said Dr. Davis.

The book is a case study of what happens when two cultures begin to interact rather rapidly, and the findings are of national importance, said co-author David Boyle. He is also professor and dean of Dalton College's School of Social Work, the only bilingual program in the country.

"The difference between Texas and California and Dalton is that those states had a history and had a historic population of Spanish-speakers and it happened over centuries," Dr. Boyle said, "whereas in Dalton it's happening in a space of 10, 15 years."

The first Hispanic laborers arrived in Northwest Georgia in 1969 to help build Carters Dam, said Dr. Davis.

After that project was complete, many stayed to work in the poultry industry and eventually in the carpet mills, he said.

By the early 1990s, this small North Georgia city had become increasingly Hispanic.

"The entire city had changed," Dr. Davis said.

"You had several Spanish-language newspapers, a radio station. Some of our public schools became 80 and 90 percent Latino, eventually Dalton High elected a Latino homecoming queen," Dr. Davis said. "In many ways Dalton became sort of like a little Mexico."

The latest U.S. Census figures state that 40 percent of the city's 33,000 residents are Hispanic. Groups that work with the Hispanic community estimate the actual count is closer to 60 percent.

The authors will meet the public, answer questions and sign copies of the book Thursday in City Hall.