{"id":2403,"date":"2017-09-11T09:00:15","date_gmt":"2017-09-11T13:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/?p=2403"},"modified":"2026-07-01T15:05:04","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T19:05:04","slug":"cristero-rebellion-martyrs-photo-album-and-postcard-collection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/cristero-rebellion-martyrs-photo-album-and-postcard-collection\/","title":{"rendered":"Cristero Rebellion Martyrs photo album and postcard collection"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Warning: this article includes graphic images that some readers may find disturbing.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

by Erika Hosselkus, Curator, Latin American Collections<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cristero Rebellion (La Cristiada<\/em>) (1926-1929) was a major uprising by Mexican Catholics against the violently anti-clerical presidential administration of Plutarco El\u00edas Calles. Together, the Cristero Rebellion Martyrs photo album and postcard collection include some 73 photographs, many of them portrait-style prints of individuals executed under authority of President Calles. These images, and others like them, document the persecution of clerics and lay devotees who protested against the closure of churches and restrictions on the exercise of faith during the Calles era. They were also collected by devout Catholics during and after the Cristero Rebellion and served as reminders, or even relics, of the courage demonstrated by the Mexican faithful in the face of persecution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cristero Rebellion Martyrs photo album<\/a> is a set of 32 silver gelatin photographs, each with a leaf of accompanying, semi-hagiographic, text. The Cristero Rebellion Martyrs postcard collection<\/a> includes 41 black and white postcards and photographs, some with descriptive information. (Full descriptions of these two collections can be accessed at the linked finding aids.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Photographs and postcards of Father Miguel Pro, a high-profile victim of the Calles regime, are a highlight of both collections. Father Pro was sentenced to death without a trial for his alleged involvement in an attempt on the life of former Mexican president, \u00c1lvaro Obreg\u00f3n. In a political miscalculation, Calles allowed the media to photograph Pro\u2019s execution. Rather than deterring rebels, the resulting images of Pro made him a martyr and his death inspired devotion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The following series of six images includes portraits of Pro in life and in death and documents his execution.<\/p>\n\n\n

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According to the text of the Cristero Rebellion Martyrs photo album, Father Pro welcomed his martyrdom. He forgave the agent that had apprehended him and even embraced him before kneeling, crossing himself, and reciting the act of contrition. Pro then stood, kissed his crucifix and extended his arms, with rosary in one hand. He stared, \u201cwithout blinking an eyelash, at the rifles pointed at his chest,\u201d and uttered the cry of the Cristero movement, \u201c\u00a1Viva Cristo Rey!\u201d before he was shot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The collections also include images of Luis Segura Vilchis, Humberto Pro, and Juan Tirado Arias, all of whom were condemned along with Father Miguel Pro, as well as many other adherents of the Cristero movement.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Portrait of Anacleto Gonz\u00e1lez Flores in life and, after his death, in his home with his widow and children. Gonz\u00e1lez was a lawyer and active member of the member of the Asociaci\u00f3n Cat\u00f3lica de la Juventud Mexicana (ACJM) and the Uni\u00f3n Popular (UP).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Portraits of father, Rafael Acevedo\u00a0(left), and son, Vicente Acevedo\u00a0(right), executed in Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca for the crime of distributing Catholic propaganda on 6 August 1926.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Postcards depicting a funeral procession with two coffins \u2013 one white and one black \u2013 leaving a house and then on the road for burial. The Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca stamps on the reverse of these postcards suggest that this may be the funeral procession for Rafael and Vicente Acevedo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Left: Post-mortem photograph of Father Gumercindo Seda\u00f1o who was executed for continued priestly activities in violation of laws issued by President Calles.

Right: \u201cFive fanatics\u201d executed along with Father Gumercindo Seda\u00f1o, hanging from telephone poles at the train station C. Guzm\u00e1n in Jalisco.<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Rare Books and Special Collections also holds six volumes of the Cristero journal<\/a>, David<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Front cover and title page of first volume of journal David<\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License<\/a>.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Warning: this article includes graphic images that some readers may find disturbing. by Erika Hosselkus, Curator, Latin American Collections The Cristero Rebellion (La Cristiada) (1926-1929) was a major uprising by Mexican Catholics against the violently anti-clerical presidential administration of Plutarco El\u00edas Calles. Together, the Cristero Rebellion Martyrs photo album and postcard collection include some 73 … Continue reading Cristero Rebellion Martyrs photo album and postcard collection<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1936,"featured_media":2405,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[75054,12646],"tags":[381302,54896],"class_list":["post-2403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latin-american-studies","category-miscellaneous","tag-mexico","tag-photographs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1936"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2403"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2403\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11816,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2403\/revisions\/11816"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}