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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
Interview No. 1475, Lorenzo Cano
Interview No. 1476, Raymundo González
Interview No. 1545, Rosa Martha Zarate
Interview No. 1545, Rosa Martha Zarate
Combined Interviews
She recalls crossing the border twice in Tijuana; she details her two distinct experiences with border agents. She details the racial discrimination she felt in the convent from priest and other nuns; her push for Spanish Catechism and more Spanish masses. She remembers meeting Cesar Chavez; details her first protest with him, her revolutionary idealistic music, and her involvement with the Agriculture Movement, as well as the role of chicano priest and nuns in creating a better connection with the people; she recalls being seen as the evangelical voice of the Latin American Church Movement. Rosa’s activism and music labeled …
Interview No. 1506, Francisco Escalera
Interview No. 1506, Francisco Escalera
Combined Interviews
Escalera recalls that his father died in 1954 and his family moved from Michoacán to Guadalajara, Mexico since it was hard to earn a living. He remembers that in this place he got a job with the city government for which he worked for 34 years and in 1959 he got opportunity to go to the U.S. and got a license from his job to be absent for three month. He describes his journey from Guadalajara going to the contract center in Empalme, Sonora, then to the border in Calexico, California from which he was hired to go to Santa …
Interview No. 1597, Leticia Carabajal
Interview No. 1597, Leticia Carabajal
Combined Interviews
Her maternal grandfather she explains fought alongside Pancho Villa and was eventually killed; she explains that her father is a bracero but she did not discover this until he began speaking about working in Utah, Colorado, and California; her father worked as a bracero in order to support the family, eventually buying a house with his earnings; she points out that her father does not have his bracero documentation; she began seeing articles about braceros in local newspaper, consequently she began recording her conversations with her dad and gave him a journal so he could write down his experiences; she …
Interview No. 1464, Silbano Robledo
Interview No. 1464, Silbano Robledo
Combined Interviews
Silbano Robledo was very tired of working in his town from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm without a good salary. After he got married, he started a small business selling peanuts. Mr. Robledo traveled to Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico to get hired as a bracero; He worked in El Valle picking cotton and then traveled to La Mesa de Lobos and worked doing the same job. He worked as a bracero for three years until 1959. He worked from twelve-hour days with a salary of $ 7.00 dollars per day. Robledo lived with his co-workers and they all together bought …
Interview No. 1438, Sebastián Ruíz Ávila
Interview No. 1438, Sebastián Ruíz Ávila
Combined Interviews
Sebastian Ruíz Ávila lived there up until his late teens. He worked as baker helper in Matamores until he learned about the braceros. He worked at Lamesa, Texas. He was able to help his family back in México by working in the cotton fields everyday. His payment was based on the amount of cotton he would pick up. He worked 6 years as a bracero for the same person. Mr. Ruíz didn’t know English during his time working as a bracero. After having a family in Mexico, Mr. Ruíz stayed there working as a brick-maker. Then, he became a politician, …
Interview No. 1474, Jesus J. Ibarra Huerta
Interview No. 1474, Jesus J. Ibarra Huerta
Combined Interviews
Mr. Ibarra worked as a farmer since he was young. He traveled to Monterrey, Mexico to get hired as a bracero and then to El Paso del Aguila, Texas. Ibarra worked for the first time picking cotton in Laredo, Texas. He renewed his contract three consecutive times and worked in Bryan, Mission, McAllen and Mandy Texas. Ibarra worked in six different cities around Texas in 1957 and 1958. He renewed his contract and worked for eight months picking beetroot in Bay City, Michigan. He worked as a bracero for the last time in 1964. He got his American residency thanks …
Interview No. 1472, Maria Arreola Galvan
Interview No. 1473, Octaviano Galvan
Interview No. 1466, Antonio Garcia Delgado
Interview No. 1466, Antonio Garcia Delgado
Combined Interviews
Antonio Garcia Delgado worked picking pumpkins since he was a child. He traveled to Monterey, Mexico with his father and both were hired to work as braceros. Garcia worked picking cotton in Santa Rosa, Texas. He renewed his contract and worked in Mumford, Texas. Garcia never knew how much money he earned during that time because his father collected his checks. Garcia collected around two hundred and twenty pounds of cotton per day. Garcia traveled with his wife to San Antonio, Texas and worked without documents He feels proud because he became an American Citizen.
Interview No. 1471, José Tello
Interview No. 1471, José Tello
Combined Interviews
Mr. Tello briefly recalls his childhood and how it was growing up in the ranch he lived in; while working in the ranch he heard about the Bracero Program and traveled to the city of Monterrey, Nuevo León, México, where the processing center was; he explains that the process was fairly easy for him and that there weren’t many requirements or medical examinations; he recalls crossing the border at Laredo, Texas; as a bracero he completed several contracts picking cotton and radish in the states of Texas, California, and Arkansas; he briefly describes the living and working conditions at the …
Interview No. 1465, Asención Flores
Interview No. 1465, Asención Flores
Combined Interviews
Asención Flores Saldaña started working when he was ten years old. He heard about the Bracero Program when he was in Jalisco. Flores was hired as a bracero in Empalme, Sonora. In 1926, he worked as a bracero for three months in California. In 1929, he was hired again as a bracero and worked picking cotton in Pecos. Flores only worked three days in Pecos because the weather was very bad. Flores renewed his contract and worked in Soledad picking tomatoes. He worked six days per week and sometimes all week. The salary was $12.00 per day, but he paid …
Interview No. 1467, Ramón Gil
Interview No. 1467, Ramón Gil
Combined Interviews
Ramón Gil worked as a bracero at Salt Pacific in Sacramento, California. Gil organized the material for the railroad for six months, then he moved to Tampico, Mexico. In Tamaulipas, he worked in the Mexican oil business and later he moved to Buffalo, New York, where he got married and started a family. As a bracero, he was paid every 15 days; his wage was $8.16 per hour. Gil had only one bad experience as a bracero, they were supposed to have a savings account at Wells Fargo, but he has never seen a penny of that money.
Interview No. 1468, Rafael Gonzalez M.
Interview No. 1468, Rafael Gonzalez M.
Combined Interviews
Mr. González talks about his childhood and growing up working in the mines since a young age; in 1950 he moves to the city of Nava in México, close to the border, where he finds out about the Bracero Program; he enlists and goes through the hiring process; furthermore, he mentions the hiring center, the requisites, and the medical examinations they went through; upon crossing he worked in the cotton fields, as well as in chard, lettuce, and beet root fields, in different ranches of the state of Texas; besides of the working conditions, he describes the living conditions, the …
Interview No. 1469, Jose Mata Alvarez
Interview No. 1469, Jose Mata Alvarez
Combined Interviews
Jose Mata Alvarez started working at a very young age. He traveled to Tamaulipas, Mexico to get hired as a bracero for the first time. In 1960 he worked in Texas and in 1961 he moved to California. Mata worked picking beetroot and cleaning beans. He renewed his contract and worked for the last time as a bracero in 1964 in Denver, Colorado. He also worked picking grapes and lemon. Sometime, he worked six days a week and more than eight hours per day. The salary was based on the quantity not on the hours worked per day. He was …
Interview No. 1470, Cipriano Romero
Interview No. 1470, Cipriano Romero
Combined Interviews
Cipriano Romero worked picking cotton since he was ten years old. He traveled to Monterrey, Nuevo León, México to get hired in the bracero program. In 1956, Romero started working picking cotton in Helena, Arkansas. He renewed his contract and worked in Stockton, California. Romero had his first child at 22 years old in Arkansas. The salary was between $1.55 and $2.550 per hundred pounds of cotton. He worked as many hours as he could five days a week. Romero never had problems with the food or the housing provided in the different places where he worked. Romero remembered that …
Interview No. 1462, Fabian Landaverde S.
Interview No. 1462, Fabian Landaverde S.
Combined Interviews
Mr. Landaverde briefly remembers his childhood talking about his hometown, and about playing and working in the lands along with his father; before he was a bracero, he entered the United States in 1951 to work in the railroad tracks in Colorado; in 1955, Mr. Landaverde, who was already married, went through the hiring process to become a bracero; he recalls going through the centers in Monterrey and El Paso, Texas; in addition, he explains that, because of his little knowledge in English, he helped as a translator in one of the centers; he also describes the hiring process where …
Interview No. 1459, Jesus T. Castilleda
Interview No. 1459, Jesus T. Castilleda
Combined Interviews
Mr. Castilleda briefly recalls his childhood and working in agriculture with his family; he crossed the border to work illegally in the cotton fields with his father when he was ten or twelve years old; he remembers that his uncles came as braceros and as soon as he turned eighteen he enlisted in the city of Monterrey; after enlisting, he went through contracting centers in Piedras Negras and Hidalgo, Texas; he remembers the medical exams they were put through; he worked in places like La Mesa and Big Springs, Texas, as well as in Tennessee and Arkansas, mainly on cotton …
Interview No. 1460, Ramon García
Interview No. 1460, Ramon García
Combined Interviews
Mr. García mentions his childhood and how difficult it was when his parents separated; he and his siblings had to work to support their family when they were only children; he crossed illegally at the age of fifteen to work in the U.S.; when he was eighteen he decided to enlist in the bracero program and went to the contracting center in Monterrey, Nuevo León; he remembers the entire process, including the waiting times, the amount of people, and the harsh conditions; he recalls the medical exams he went through; after being hired he was sent to Arkansas to the …
Interview No. 1461, Marcelino Gonzalez D.
Interview No. 1461, Marcelino Gonzalez D.
Combined Interviews
Mr. Gonzalez talks about his hometown and how, despite the economic difficulties, he enjoyed his childhood; he describes his schooling and that when he was studying he wanted to come to the united States to work; around the year of 1954, Mr. Gonzalez went through the hiring process to become a bracero; he mentions going through the hiring center of Monterrey, Nuevo León, México; he describes the embarrassment of going through physical medical exams, where they were stripped and examined; as a bracero, Mr. Gonzalez remembers mainly working in the cotton, onion, and lettuce fields of El Paso, Plainview and …
Interview No. 1463, Juventino Muñoz P.
Interview No. 1463, Juventino Muñoz P.
Combined Interviews
Mr. Muñoz briefly recalls his family and childhood; he remembers his family living under good conditions having lands and animals; when he was around 12 years old his family lost everything and he had to quit school in order to work in the fields; he served in the Mexican military until he became a bracero in June of 1963; Mr. Muñoz recalls the entire process, including going through centers in Piedras Negras and Mexicali; in addition, he mentions going through medical examinations; as a bracero he worked in the cucumber fields in Michigan and then he worked on the lemon …
Interview No. 1336, Jose Bujanda
Interview No. 1336, Jose Bujanda
Combined Interviews
Mr. Bujanda education was limited to the third grade because he had to help his father harvest crops; he started working at a very young age in his father’s corn field, his duties included irrigating, planting seeds and harvesting corn; at the age of 15 Mr. Bujanda traveled to Hermosillo to harvest cotton, soon after he traveled to Sonora where he was working as a tractor operator; before becoming a Bracero in 1959, Mr. Bujanda was working as a chauffeur and to this day that is his permanent job; Mr. Bujanda’s first Bracero experience was in Caléxico, California where he …
Interview No. 1233, Antonio Nuño
Interview No. 1233, Antonio Nuño
Combined Interviews
Mr. Nuño talks about his family and what his life was like growing up; he later married, and when he was roughly twenty years old, he and his wife moved to Mexicali, Baja California, México to be with her family; he began crossing into the United States to work without proper documentation, but shortly after he obtained a bracero contract in 1949 with the help of family friends; later, he had to go through the contracting process in Guadalajara, Jalisco, México, where he was stripped, medically examined and deloused; he explains that he paid bribes to go through the process …
Interview No. 1388, Maria Zarate
Interview No. 1388, Maria Zarate
Combined Interviews
Maria Zarate was born in Paracho, Michoacán, México. Her father worked as a bracero in the United States. At a young age her father pasted away, for this reason she started working with her brothers caring for animal and planting seeds. At an age of twenty, she married for the first time. One year later, her husband passed away. Eight years later she married a second time only to take care of her second husband’s daughters. Her second husband, Federico worked as a bracero in the United States in 1954. Ms. Zarate lasted long periods of time without her husband …
Interview No. 1419, María De Los Ángeles Luna De Robles
Interview No. 1419, María De Los Ángeles Luna De Robles
Combined Interviews
Ms. Luna de Robles discusses her family; she talks about her marriage in 1958, to Crescencio Robles; they were from the same ejido, which was how they met; she was nineteen years old, and he was twenty-two at the time; prior to their marriage, he enlisted in the bracero program, at the age of eighteen, and he continued working with the program; he went through the contracting process in Chihuahua, México; as a bracero, he labored in the fields of Arizona, California, New México and Texas; he wrote letters to her and sent money about once a month; she usually …
Interview No. 1424, Feliciano Zarupe
Interview No. 1424, Feliciano Zarupe
Combined Interviews
Feliciano never went to school and from a very young age he began working, collecting resin from pine trees so it could be processed for various needs. Feliciano entered the Bracero Program in 1960 and the first part of the recruitment process, the physical examination, took place in Empalme. Then they were sent to Calexico where they were dusted against lice. Feliciano first went to Oxnard in Parque del Sol when he arrived in the United States and then was sent to Lompoc in Santa Maria county, California where he worked harvested lettuce for 45 days. A typical day began …
Interview No. 1421, Ramiro Solis
Interview No. 1421, Ramiro Solis
Combined Interviews
Ramiro Solis was born on December 28, 1922 in Tekax Yucatán, México attended school and learned to read and write, however, after his father passed away, everyone in the family had to start working. Ramiro left school to work with his father’s former Chinese countrymen who paid Ramiro $0.02 cents a row for harvesting herbs and he would earn $0.10 -$0.12 cents a day for his work. He went on to work as a roper (one who makes ropes) in Mérida, Yucatán. Then there was a decline in jobs, and the Mexican government began pushing for unemployed men to enter …
Interview No. 1414, Santa María Madera
Interview No. 1414, Santa María Madera
Combined Interviews
Mr. Madera recalls learning about the bracero program and how two hundred men were chosen from his town to enlist in Empalme, Sonora, México; in 1956, when he was twenty-two years old, he and his brother-in-law traveled to Guadalajara, Jalisco, México before finally arriving in Empalme; he describes the requirements and process he underwent, including medical exams; from there he was transported to Mexicali, Baja California, México by train; upon crossing into the United States, he was treated badly and subjected to further assessments and delousing procedures; moreover, he spent the night at a large barracks in Calexico, California before …
Interview No. 1411, Guadalupe Durán
Interview No. 1411, Guadalupe Durán
Combined Interviews
Mr. Durán briefly talks about his parents and siblings; growing up, he worked in the fields, but he eventually had to go to Sonora, México, because there was not enough work at home; while there, he picked two thousand kilograms of cotton, and he was able to obtain the necessary documents to enlist in the bracero program; he went through the contracting center in Empalme, Sonora, México; from there he was transported to Mexicali, Baja California, México and then to Calexico, California, where he was stripped, examined and deloused; he comments that he was treated badly when he crossed into …