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Interview No. 1665, Tony Esquivel
Interview No. 1665, Tony Esquivel
Combined Interviews
Tony Esquivel was born in El Paso, Texas and grew up in Big Bend, Texas; his father was well educated and was a teacher, business man, and grocery store owner; he attended school in Castolon, Texas where they had a single teacher for all the students; he learned to read and write in English; he was raised by his maternal grandfather while his parents lived in El Paso. Additionally, he remembers his mom being given deeds to the mines by her father who discovered them and made a claim. The mines were stolen through legal manipulation. At an early age, …
Interview No. 1659, Anonymous
Interview No. 1659, Anonymous
Combined Interviews
He was born in the El Paso settlement called Smeltertown. His father had begun work at the ASARCO plant after arriving in the early 1900’s. He was raised by his mother and grandmother. growing up in Smeltertown, he remembers being very poor and rummaging through trash for goods. He recalls being discriminated against for being Mexican once he began working at ASARCO. Everything was segregated and higher paying jobs were only given to whites. He remembers a large sense of community among Mexican workers, from cooking to bars and stores. ASARCO had a company store which sold items at high …