Zoot Suit - East Coast Armory

John Grima

 Created

in 1930’s  Popular in the 1940’s  Consists of tight wasted, baggy pegged ended trousers, long coat with broad shoulders, and a long watch chain.  Popular amongst Latin, African, and Italian Americans.  An icon of the era, similar to the disco suit of the 1970’s

 Cloth

was rationed for war effort  Civilian clothes dimensions were regulated by the government  Zoot suits were made by underground tailors.  Wearing a Zoot suit became a way to protest the war regulations.  Zoot suits became associated with Latin American gangs, and crime by the media

 Negative

atmosphere in the California area after the Sleepy Lagoon Murder 1942

 In

1943 US servicemen in Los Angeles rounded up anyone wearing a Zoot Suit, beat them and throw them into jail charging them for rioting and vagrancy.

 Southern

California August 1st 1942,

 After

two groups of Latino gangs fought each other one night one group was arrested the next morning for the murder of José Díaz.

 No

evidence was found linking the “Puchacos” to the murder.

 The “Puchacos” were

put on a monkey trail.





The Judge ordered the defendants not to be allowed to shower, shave, or dress for the trail. The prosecution used an unfounded, racist testimony stating that the (Mexican) defenders are inherently violent due to the Aztecs.



The Prosecution used false evidence, to link the murder to the defendants.



The Youths were all convicted on murder charges.



In 1944 all of the convictions were reversed in appeal and the youths were released after much activisim.



Written in 1979 by. Made into a film in 1981.



Play was the first Latin American play on Broadway.



Play changed the names of the Defendants. And revolves around Henry Reyna (who gets convicted for the murder)



Henry Reyna was spending his last night of freedom before going into the US Navy, when the murder took place.



Henry Reyna is followed by the character El Pachuco, who is a mythical zoot suit wearing character.





In the play El Pachuco acts as the narrator, Chorus and Henry’s inner thoughts. Henry is also the only character in the play that El Pachuco speaks to. In the play’s end you find out that Henry goes in and out of jail over the years, gets addicted to heavy drugs, and dies in the 1970’s

is categorized as a Drama / tragedy  The play follows climatic structure with a clear rising action climax and falling action. 

 Born

June 26, 1940 in California  Father of Latino / Chicano theater.  Wrote

La bamba, Zoot Suit, Chicanos Story, Corridos: Tales of Passion & Revolution

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"Valdez, Luis - Zoot Suit." Drama Criticism. Ed. Lawrence J. Trudeau. Vol. 10. Gale Cengage, 1999. eNotes.com. 2006. 9 Dec, 2010 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/zoot/ Salamon, Julie. "Racism in a 1940's Riot Over Outlandish Suits." The New York Times (2002). Print. http://www.binationalfilmfestival.org/luisvaldez.html