My dissertation will center on the physical growth and transformation of Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico from a small, dilapidated port town into an internationally-known city and tourist complex between 1927 and 1973, and will explore the concurrent construction of an idealized image of Acapulco. This project will provide a portrait of the development of tourism in Mexico, while exploring the history of a city about which very little scholarship exists. I plan to spend a year in Mexico, affiliated with the Colegio de Mexico as a visiting researcher. Of this year, eight months will be in Mexico City, doing research in archives such as the Archivo General de la Nacion and the Archivo General Agrario. The other four will be based in Acapulco, doing research in the Municipal Archive and oral history interviews, supplemented by trips to the state archives in Chilpancingo.