Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Interview No. 1721, Wilhemina Apodaca

Combined Interviews

Ms. Apodaca brought to the interview a dress she wore when she was little for a photoshoot she had at the Casasola Studio that was later on featured in the newspaper. Ms. Apodaca remembers the blue dress very well because it was hand-made by her mother and her aunt especially for her. Like most of the clothing back then was made at home.

Ms. Apodaca was raised on a farm in New Mexico along with her other five siblings. She loved living on the farm but used to come to El Paso every weekend to visit her grandmother and do …

Interview No. 1436, Félix Flores Juan

Combined Interviews

Mr. Flores describes what life was like when he was growing up and working with his father as a fisherman; he recalls men coming to town to recruit people for the bracero program; later, when he married, there were no more fish, which prompted him to enlist in the bracero program; he took a boat off the island and then took a bus with a group of men to Empalme, Sonora, México; as a bracero, he worked in the fields of Texas, picking and packing various crops; he goes on to detail housing, provisions, duties, treatment, contract renewals, payment, remittances, …

Acadian Food, Michael Corbin

Maine Song and Story Sampler

In short, Acadians did not allow harsh weather, poor soil conditions, and an uncertain (or even hostile) political conditions to limit their culinary choices.

Interview With Seth Brewster By Mike Hastings, Seth W. Brewster

George J. Mitchell Oral History Project

Biographical Note
Seth Brewster was born on January 8, 1960, in Worcester, Massachusetts, and grew up in Manchester, Maine, where his father worked for Central Maine Power. He attended local public school until his junior year of high school, when he transferred to Deerfield Academy. He was graduated from Dartmouth College in 1982 with a double major in engineering sciences and economics. After college he worked for Arthur Andersen Consulting, based in New York City. He attended law school in Boston and took the bar exam in Massachusetts and Maine. In 1991, he pursued an opportunity to work for Senator …

Interview With Jim Case By Andrea L’Hommedieu, James 'Jim' W. Case

George J. Mitchell Oral History Project

Biographical Note
James W. “Jim” Case was born on June 21, 1945, in Chicopee, Massachusetts. His father was a firefighter and his mother was a homemaker who raised seven children; Jim was the fourth of five boys. His family was Irish-German Catholic, and his parents were involved in local politics. He grew up in a blue-collar mill town with a good public educational system; he attended Clark University, where he majored in psychology. He was drafted in November 1968 at the height of the Vietnam War and served two years as an administrator in a physical therapy clinic at an …

Interview With George Mitchell (1) By Andrea L’Hommedieu And Mike Hastings, George J. Mitchell

George J. Mitchell Oral History Project

Biographical Note
George J. Mitchell was born on August 20, 1933, in Waterville, Maine, to Mary Saad, a factory worker, and George Mitchell, a laborer. Senator Mitchell spent his youth in Waterville. After receiving his bachelor's degree from Bowdoin College in 1954, he served as an officer in the U.S. Army Counter Intelligence Corps until 1956. In 1960 he earned a law degree from Georgetown University. Mitchell worked for Senator Edmund S. Muskie as executive assistant and as deputy campaign manager during Muskie's 1972 presidential campaign. He later became U.S. senator (D-Maine) 1980-1995, Senate majority leader 1989-1995, and, upon his …

Interview With Barry Valentine By Andrea L’Hommedieu, Barry L. Valentine

George J. Mitchell Oral History Project

Biographical Note
Barry Lee Valentine was born September 12, 1943, in Emporia Kansas. He grew up in York Harbor, Maine, attended York High School, and received a degree in engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. During college he took part in ROTC and after graduation joined the Air Force, serving as a pilot in Vietnam. He left the Air Force in 1972 and returned to Maine, where he helped run an airfield and became involved in politics because a neighbor ran for a seat in the Maine state legislature. He was the York county coordinator for the Maine public power campaign …

Interview No. 1658, Maria Andres Ramires

Combined Interviews

She recalls her father travelled to the U.S. several times as a bracero to harvest cotton, strawberries, and tomatoes, and returned immediately after his contract was over. She remembers that she attended up to second grade in school, since she did not have time to do homework because she was the one that helped her mother gathering wood so her mother could make tortillas and sell them to people in town that had helpers at their houses. Both of her parents did not go to school since they never had time to attend. Her mother contributed to the family income …

Interview No. 1587, Armando F. Salinas

Combined Interviews

Mr. Salinas began working in the fields at a young age, he picked strawberries and apricots during the summer, he was paid a dollar an hour and all his earnings were given to his parents except for five dollars; in his early teens he began seeing braceros besides family pickers in the fields; he explains that ten men would rent one room and they slept in cots; he describes their food as burritos and chips; he points out that braceros did the work American workers did not want to do such as ladder work; he explains that exploitation did occur, …

Interview With Jan Barrett By Andrea L’Hommedieu, Janet 'Jan' P. Barrett

George J. Mitchell Oral History Project

Biographical Note
Jan (Plourde) (Welch) Barrett was born and raised in Lewiston, Maine. Her father was in the military and, although she and her mother traveled with him, they always returned to Lewiston-Auburn and stayed with her grandparents, the Duponts, owners of Sonny Boy Bread. She attended St. Louis School until the eighth grade and was graduated from Lewiston High School in 1965. Barrett attended two years at the Chandler's School for Women in Boston. After college, she stayed in Boston for work, meeting Don Nicoll after graduation; a few months later he offered her a job on Senator Muskie’s …

Interview With Donald Gallion, August 6, 2008, Donald Gallion, Michael J. Birkner

Oral Histories

Donald Gallion was interviewed on August 6, 2008 by Michael Birkner about his time serving in the United States army during WWII and his return to Gettysburg College and after the war.

Collection Note: This oral history was selected from the Oral History Collection maintained by Special Collections & College Archives. Transcripts are available for browsing in the Special Collections Reading Room, 4^th floor, Musselman Library. GettDigital contains the complete listing of oral histories done from 1978 to the present. To view this list and to access selected digital versions please visit -- https://gettysburg.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16274coll2/search

Interview With David Lemoine By Mike Hastings, David G. Lemoine

George J. Mitchell Oral History Project

Biographical Note
David George Lemoine was born on May 25, 1957, in Waterville, Maine. His mother, Margaret Marden Lemoine, grew up on a potato farm in Freedom, Maine, and his father, George Macalese Lemoine, was a native of Waterville and a veteran of the Korean War. David grew up in Waterville and was graduated from Waterville High School in 1975. He attended Colby College and earned a degree in government in 1979. He worked as an intern in Senator Muskie’s Washington, D.C. office until Muskie was appointed secretary of state in May of 1980. When George Mitchell was appointed to …

Learning Family Healing Traditions, Natalia Bragg

Maine Song and Story Sampler

The story told here explains the process of teaching traditional medicine to a new generation. In Natalia Bragg's case, it was something of an accident.

How The Social Context Of Bill Clinton's Childhood Shaped His Personality: Using Oral History Interviews Of His Childhood Peers And Relatives, Karen Sebold

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Since individual personality plays an important role in presidential decision-making (Barber, 1972), then understanding the setting that impacted the personality is an important component in any understanding of a president's personality. This study seeks to understand the setting that shaped the personality of William Jefferson Clinton. This case study was selected for two reasons: (1) there is a plethora of descriptive psycho-biographies of Clinton (Maraniss, 1995, Renshon 1996b, Post, 2006) and (2) there are oral history interviews from individuals who were part of Clinton's familial and childhood peer networks. The interviews used for this study are part of the Clinton …

Interview With Paul Mitchell By Mike Hastings, Paul J. Mitchell

George J. Mitchell Oral History Project

Biographical Note
Paul J. Mitchell was born on January 20, 1926, in Westfield, Massachusetts, to Mary (Saad) and George J. Mitchell, Sr. and grew up in Waterville, Maine, after the death of his grandfather. His mother worked as a weaver in the local woolen mills, and his father worked for the Central Maine Power Company, and later for Colby College. In 1944 Paul enrolled in the Navy’s V-12 program at Bates College. He then matriculated at the University of Maine to complete his degree, graduating in 1949, and received a master’s degree in education from Columbia University. He worked for …

Interview No. 1457, Custodio Navarrete Cárdenas

Combined Interviews

Custodio Navarrete Cardeas worked with his father caring for animals in the field. Navarrete was hired as a bracero in 1961. He traveled to Calexico in order to know his future work place. The first city where Navarrete worked was in King City, California cutting lettuce and carrots. Navarrete lived with all the other workers close to the work place. He played cards in his free time with other workers, sometimes he won money but sometimes lost the check. Mr. Navarrete went back to Mexico after his contract. Navarrete was shot and was not able to return to work as …

Interview With Jeff Nathanson By Mike Hastings, Jeffrey 'Jeff' Nathanson

George J. Mitchell Oral History Project

Biographical Note
Jeffrey “Jeff” Nathanson was born on July 10, 1958, in Biddeford, Maine, to Toby Yetta Nathanson and Jon Allen Nathanson. His family owned a fast food drive-in called Toby’s Drive-In, near Thornton Academy, along with a food stand in Old Orchard Beach; his parents sold Toby’s in 1997. Jeff attended Thornton Academy, graduating in 1976, and continued his education at Williams College; he majored in biology with a minor in environmental studies, graduating in 1980. He worked on Harold Pachios’s congressional campaign. Through Jim Case, he was hired as a part-time elevator operator for Senators Mitchell and Byrd …

Interview With Larry Benoit By Mike Hastings, Robert 'Larry' L. Benoit

George J. Mitchell Oral History Project

Biographical Note
Robert Laurent “Larry” Benoit was born on August 20, 1948, to Robert Barry Benoit and Inez Frances Benoit. He grew up in the Portland, Maine, area, attended Cape Elizabeth High School, and entered the University of Southern Maine, where he concentrated in U.S. history and received a B.S. in education in 1970. He was a self-taught mechanic but became involved in politics at a young age, running for a vacant seat in the House of Representatives while still in college. After graduating, he took time off to travel and visit family and was then approached in 1971 to …

Round Table Interview With Mike Hastings, Anita Jensen, Estelle Lavoie, And Mary Mcaleney By Andrea L’Hommedieu, Michael 'Mike' M. Hastings, Anita Jensen, Estelle Lavoie, Mary E. Mcaleney

George J. Mitchell Oral History Project

Biographical Note
Michael M. Hastings, a native of Morrill, Maine, graduated from Tilton School (NH) in 1968 and Bowdoin College in 1972. Following a year of graduate study in Public & International Affairs at George Washington University, he worked for seven years as a foreign and defense policy aide to Senator William S. Cohen (1973-1980) and for four years for Senator George J. Mitchell (1980-1984). In October, 1984, he joined the international staff of Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and moved to Africa. Over a span of eight years, he worked as a CRS development administrator in Kenya, Tanzania, Togo and …

Interview With Barbara Atkins And Janet Mitchell By Andrea L’Hommedieu, Barbara M. Atkins, Janet F. Mitchell

George J. Mitchell Oral History Project

Biographical Note
Barbara (Mitchell) Atkins was born in July, 1935, in Waterville, Maine. She grew up with four older brothers: John, Paul, Robert, and George Mitchell (Sr.). Her mother, Mintaha, was a weaver in the woolen mills in Waterville, and her father, George, Sr., was with the Central Maine Power Company and with the Colby College maintenance department. The family practiced the Maronite Roman Catholic rite of Lebanese descent. Her mother was born in Lebanon and immigrated in 1920. Barbara attended St. Joseph’s elementary school, Waterville Junior High School, and Waterville High School, where she played volleyball, basketball, was a …

Interview No. 1402, Raúl Hernández

Combined Interviews

Raúl Hernandez was born in Vista Hermosa de Negrete, Michoacán. His parents were field laborers and from a very young age, Raúl was taken out of school and he learned to care for goats. When Raúl was a 17 year old, poor, newlywed, he decided to travel North in search of a job. Prior to entering the Bracero Program, Raúl worked in Tamaulipas and Matamoros picking cotton and corn. After entering the Bracero Program, worked picking cotton and various types of produce in Texas and California. During this time, Raúl experienced discrimination against minorities and in his case, Mexicans working …

Interview No. 1456, Julio Valentín May May

Combined Interviews

Mr. May talks about growing up in a poor town and working to maintain an ejido; one of his older brothers enlisted in the bracero program and encouraged him to do the same; during the early sixties, Julio could not find work, and he had a wife and daughter to support; ultimately, he decided to follow in his brother’s footsteps and enrolled in the program; the names of eligible workers were printed in the newspaper, which he explains is how he knew when to go to the contracting center; he describes going to Empalme, Sonora, México, and the difficulties …

Interview No. 1427, Alonso Ayala

Combined Interviews

Mr. Ayala talks about his family and what life was like growing up; for a time, he worked on a finca, where he earned eight pesos for an eight to ten hour day, which was not enough to survive; he compares such work to slavery; after completing his military service when he was roughly nineteen years old, he decided to enlist in the bracero program; he went through contracting centers in Chihuahua, Chihuahua, and Monterrey, Nuevo León, México; as a bracero, he worked in the fields of California, Montana and Texas, picking beets, cantaloupe, cotton, lettuce and strawberries; he …

Interview No. 1441, José Medina Torres

Combined Interviews

Mr. Medina talks about his father and what his life was like growing up; he knew about the bracero program because, his brother-in-law and several men from town joined in the midforties; José decided to enlist in 1955, and he went to the contracting center in Monterrey, Nuevo León, México, with a group of thirty other men; he briefly describes waiting in lines at the center while getting processed; in addition, he went though centers in Empalme, Sonora, México, and Distrito Federal, México; he also mentions that in Empalme, he paid a coyote four hundred pesos for a contract; as …

Interview No. 1451, Gabriel Ramos Ibañez

Combined Interviews

Gabriel Ramos Ibáñez started working since he was seven years old; He heard about the bracero program when he was twenty six years old; He started working in Arizona for two years watering lettuce and vegetables; he traveled to Manteca, California and picked peaches, nuts and tomatoes. He renewed his contract and worked in Bythe, Arizona; He also traveled to Yuma, Arizona and worked picking lettuce. He bought clothes and sent money to his wife every time he could; Ramos felt very satisfied with his job and the salary he received while he worked as a bracero it helped to …

Interview No. 1454, Antonio Sierra García

Combined Interviews

Mr. Sierra talks about growing up in an extremely poor indigenous town where hardly anyone spoke Spanish; he initially learned about the bracero program through government announcements; at the time, many were afraid of being taken away to fight in the war; Antonio eventually married, and he and his wife had three children, two girls and one boy; later, in 1954, he enlisted in the bracero program; he suffered greatly while going through the contracting process in Irapuato, Guanajuato, México, because he had to wait for twenty days and only ate occasionally; moreover, he did not pass, and he had …

Interview No. 1448, Isidro De Jesus Perez Ramos

Combined Interviews

Isidro Perez lived with his grandparents and completed third grade. He started working when his grandfather died. In 1960, Mr. Perez traveled to Empalme, Sonora to be hired as a bracero but he did not started working until 1962, picking cotton in El Centro, California. He returned to work as a bracero in Anaheim in the orange fields. He renewed his contract for the last time and worked in Stockton picking cucumber and tomatoes. Perez remembered that one time he became ill and his boss took him to the hospital in Anaheim. Perez made a lot of friends while he …

Interview No. 1449, Delfina Perez Reyes

Combined Interviews

Delfina Perez Reyes lived with her parents and his sister in San Ixtlahuaca, Oaxaca, México. Her parents died when she was twelve years old. Miss Perez moved in with her grandparents when her parents died. Delfina was married when she was sixteen years old and moved to live with the parents of her husband. Her husband worked as a bracero in the United States while Mrs. Perez took care of his three sons. Her sons felt very sad because his father was not with them. They found a better life with more opportunities for all her family thanks to the …

Interview No. 1446, Manuel Pacheco Galan

Combined Interviews

Manuel Pacheco Galan was born in San Pedro Ixtlahuacan, Oaxaca, México. He started working in the field at the age of twelve. Pacheco was married in 1954, and two years later he was hired as a bracero. The first place Pacheco worked in the bracero program was Calexico, California picking and cleaning lettuce. Then, he traveled to San Diego, California to work picking tomatoes. He renewed his contract again and traveled to Oxnard, California and worked picking lemons and tomatoes. Pacheco returned to México, but was hired again and traveled to San Antonio, Texas to pick cotton. Pacheco bought a …

Interview No. 1452, Gustavo Eloy Reyes Rodríguez

Combined Interviews

Mr. Reyes talks about his family and what it was like growing up on an ejido; as a teenager he had heard about men coming to work in the United States as braceros and how well it had gone for them; in 1960, he paid the one hundred pesos necessary to get proper documentation to enlist in the bracero program; he traveled by train to Empalme, Sonora, México, where at least five hundred men were processed on a daily basis; as part of the contracting process, he underwent medical exams; upon arriving in Calexico, California, on top of being …