Carmen Celia Beltrán music

Carmen Celia Beltrán (February 19, 1905 – May 26, 2002) was a Mexican American writer of poetry, plays, essays and radio and religious dramas. She was born in Durango, Mexico to a family of musicians. Her mother, Guadalupe, played mandolin. All of her siblings played instruments and her father, a Major in the military band of Mexican President Porfirio Diaz, inspired his children to take up music as well. During the Mexican Revolution, due to her father's political connections, the family decided to leave the city and fleed to the mountains. Beltrán was hidden with Carmelite nuns and then traveled with the family to the United States.

Beltrán moved to Tucson between 1938 and 1942 due to respiratory problems where she became active in the Mexican-American community. She wrote articles for the Spanish newspaper El Tucsonense, worked on a weekly radio program called "Theatre of the Air," and performed songs at the Holy Family Church. She would later write for Tucson Daily Reporter and La Voz. She would later create México Ayer Y Hoy, a drama performance that represented the history of Aztec, colonial, and independent Mexico. The drama was first performed at Tucson High School in 1952 but would later be performed at other venues. She was awarded the Humanitarian Award from the Mexican American Unity Council for the play and her community activities and the City of Tucson's Amistad Award for her work with KUAT. She was awarded a César Award and in 1992 the Arizona Historical Society founded the Carmen Celiá Beltrán Hispanic Theatre Archives.

Beltrán passed May 26, 2002 from breast cancer.