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Full-Text Articles in Oral History
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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 …