Uploaded September 2020 | Updated September 2026, 6 days ago
Day 181 of the American Songbag Stay-at-Home Series
Sandburg writes: "The simple song of Adelita is widely known in the Southwest, survives time and usage, and takes added vitality from the infusion of new verses. I have heard it from the box-car bunk-houses of Mexican railroad workers in Elmhurst, Illinois, and from a singing guitar player who passed the hat in the Mexican quarter in Los Angeles, California. I heard the Mayor of Santa Fe, New Mexico, one afternoon command ten of his constituents and subjects to sing it in unison and in Spanish which they did.
"The text and air here are from F. S. Curtis, Jr., who notes that with the possible exception of stanzas 1 and 5, it is distinctly Mexican in subject matter. “The number of stanzas available is very nearly unlimited. The version given here was selected because there is a reasonable amount of connection between the stanzas.""
ADDED NOTE: Legend has it that the song is based on a real-life character, however, the true identity of the woman is still unknown. Some claim her real name was Altagracia Martinez, also known as Marieta Martinez, while others maintain she was, in fact, Adela Velarde, a woman who actually took part in military action in the capacity of a nurse.
An Adelita was a soldadera, or woman soldier, who not only cooked and cared for the wounded but also actually fought in battles against Mexican government forces. In time the word Adelita was used for all the soldaderas, who became a vital force in the revolutionary war efforts
The term ˜La Adelita" now signifies a woman of strength and courage and is remembered in progenitive folk songs, poems, art and even comic books of popular culture.
Regardless, La Adelita has now come to represent the archetype of Mexican Revolutionary woman-warrior. (This information is from a women's clothing website whose offices are located in Yoakum, Texas: Double-D Ranch)
Day 181 of the American Songbag Stay-at-Home Series
Sandburg writes: "The simple song of Adelita is widely known in the Southwest, survives time and usage, and takes added vitality from the infusion of new verses. I have heard it from the box-car bunk-houses of Mexican railroad workers in Elmhurst, Illinois, and from a singing guitar player who passed the hat in the Mexican quarter in Los Angeles, California. I heard the Mayor of Santa Fe, New Mexico, one afternoon command ten of his constituents and subjects to sing it in unison and in Spanish which they did.
"The text and air here are from F. S. Curtis, Jr., who notes that with the possible exception of stanzas 1 and 5, it is distinctly Mexican in subject matter. “The number of stanzas available is very nearly unlimited. The version given here was selected because there is a reasonable amount of connection between the stanzas.""
ADDED NOTE: Legend has it that the song is based on a real-life character, however, the true identity of the woman is still unknown. Some claim her real name was Altagracia Martinez, also known as Marieta Martinez, while others maintain she was, in fact, Adela Velarde, a woman who actually took part in military action in the capacity of a nurse.
An Adelita was a soldadera, or woman soldier, who not only cooked and cared for the wounded but also actually fought in battles against Mexican government forces. In time the word Adelita was used for all the soldaderas, who became a vital force in the revolutionary war efforts
The term ˜La Adelita" now signifies a woman of strength and courage and is remembered in progenitive folk songs, poems, art and even comic books of popular culture.
Regardless, La Adelita has now come to represent the archetype of Mexican Revolutionary woman-warrior. (This information is from a women's clothing website whose offices are located in Yoakum, Texas: Double-D Ranch)
