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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
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. 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. 1100, Margarita Flores
Interview No. 1100, Margarita Flores
Combined Interviews
Ms. Flores briefly recalls her childhood and the financial difficulties her parents endured; Ms. Flores recalls that she and her mother were in the United States without documentation; her father went through the contracting center in Juárez, Chihuahua, México; upon being hired, he was sent to Rio Vista, a processing center in Socorro, Texas; she and her parents were allowed to reside at Sparks Ranch, while the majority of the other braceros were transported to another camp; her mother’s primary duties on the ranch consisted of cooking for the braceros; as a bracero, her father completed one contract and labored …
Interview No. 1423, Ben Zapata
Interview No. 1423, Ben Zapata
Combined Interviews
Benjamin Zapata was born in 1935 in the Yucatán. In the village that Benjamin lived, they worked in in making hats and head gear. Benjamin had friends who came into the Bracero Program and convinced him to join as well. In 1958, Benjamin decided to join the Bracero Program and he went to Empalme Sonora, México to register for the Bracero Program. From there Benjamin went to Mexicali, México and then he crossed the border and traveled to San Joaquin and Tracy, California. His first job had Benjamin picking tomatoes, that contract lasted for forty-five days. At the end of …
Interview No. 1418, Porfirio Z. Rico
Interview No. 1418, Porfirio Z. Rico
Combined Interviews
Porfirio Rico was born in Jéruco Michoacán, México on September 14, 1914. He attended school until the second grade when Porfirio was taken out of school so he could learn to tend to animals and do housework and light field work. When he was about 10 or 11 years old, Porfirio worked with his grandfather, earning $.15 cents an hour. Porfirio worked in various places such as Morelia, Irapuato Guanajuato, Guadalajara, Aguascalientes in México. Porfirio heard about the Bracero Program and decided to give it a try because the work in México was becoming very hard to come by. When …
Interview No. 1420, Eduardo Saldaña
Interview No. 1420, Eduardo Saldaña
Combined Interviews
Eduardo was born in a town (rancho) called Ojos de Agua, located within the Greater México City urban area, in 1920. From the age of five, Eduardo worked with him father, brothers and uncles sowing and plowing in México. When he was 16, he moved to México City. In 1943 after hearing about the Bracero Program in a national ad, Eduardo took a chance to make more money and have a better opportunity through the program. Eduardo and one of his brothers came to the United States via train and were provided food during their travel, courtesy of their new …
Interview No. 1436, Félix Flores Juan
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, …
Interview No. 1457, Custodio Navarrete Cárdenas
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 No. 1402, Raúl Hernández
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
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
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. 1433, Imelda Díaz Pacheco
Interview No. 1433, Imelda Díaz Pacheco
Combined Interviews
Ms. Díaz briefly describes her family; in 1955, at the age of fifteen, she married Ausencio Medina López; she talks about Ausencio and how during their courtship they did not actually speak to each other; everything took place through their parents; after they married, they went to live with his parents; she stayed at home with her mother-in-law to attend to the household chores, and he worked with his father in the fields; a year later, economic necessity drove Ausencio to enlist in the bracero program at the request of his wife and father; he served in the bracero program …
Interview No. 1441, José Medina Torres
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. 1444, Delfino Alfredo Muñoz Pacheco
Interview No. 1444, Delfino Alfredo Muñoz Pacheco
Combined Interviews
Mr. Muñoz very briefly discusses his family and childhood; He learned about the bracero program when he was roughly twenty years old, he decided to join the program in order to earn a better wage; He explains that he traveled to Monterrey in order to get enlisted in the program, and obtained the job in Texas Valley picking cotton, later he moved to Arkansas to do the same thing. Mr. Muñoz explains how the working conditions changed because of the different weather in each city, Texas has very high temperatures and Arkansas has a cooler weather, which makes it easier …
Interview No. 1448, Isidro De Jesus Perez Ramos
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. 1454, Antonio Sierra García
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. 1449, Delfina Perez Reyes
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. 1450, Onesimo Santiago Ramos Escobar
Interview No. 1450, Onesimo Santiago Ramos Escobar
Combined Interviews
Onésimo Santiago Ramos Escobar heard about the bracero program when he was twelve years old; Escobar was hired as a bracero in 1958 and traveled to El Valle Imperial. Escobar worked picking lettuce and cotton for one year. Escobar worked until 1959 in el Valle Imperial. He renewed his contract and worked in Stockton, California picking asparagus, potatoes and vegetables. He had a salary of $0.12 cents per sack of onion and $0.03 cents per sack of potato. His bosses treated him well; also the places where they slept and ate were good. He feels very happy because with the …
Interview No. 1446, Manuel Pacheco Galan
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. 1451, Gabriel Ramos Ibañez
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. 1452, Gustavo Eloy Reyes Rodríguez
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 …
Interview No. 1426, Antonio Aragón
Interview No. 1426, Antonio Aragón
Combined Interviews
Mr. Aragón talks about what life was like growing up, including the various schools he attended; his father joined the bracero program and worked in Michigan; the money he sent home took too long to arrive, and Antonio was forced to leave school due to lack of payment; with his military schooling, he was able to obtain a recommendation to enlist in the program in Empalme, Sonora, México; he describes the medical exams he underwent there and in the United States, including delousing procedures; as a bracero, he labored in the fields of California planting, cleaning, pruning, picking and packing …
Interview No. 1440, Amelia Mandarín Ramos
Interview No. 1440, Amelia Mandarín Ramos
Combined Interviews
Ms. Mandarín describes the community of in San Pedro Ixtlahuaca, Oaxaca, México, where she grew up; they were all very poor; she recalls the women making and selling tortillas, while the men worked in the fields; when she was very young, her father enlisted in the bracero program; she remembers crying a lot while he was gone and missing him terribly; she and her mother anxiously awaited to hear from him through letters; they waited for a long time, because he spent a while getting processed in México before arriving in the United States; while he was gone, she frequently …
Interview No. 1401, Porfirio B. García
Interview No. 1401, Porfirio B. García
Combined Interviews
Porfirio García was born in a town (rancho) called Tendeparacua in the state of Michoacán, México. His parents were also field workers who taught Porfirio and his two brothers how to make tiles for homes, a job that Porfirio worked in until a chance to enter the Bracero Program came to him. The chance to join the Bracero Program came when the governor of Morelia gave the township of Tendeparacua cards to enlist men for the program. Porfirio has worked in many states such as Arkansas, California, Washington State and Texas picking various produce. At the end of the war …
Interview No. 1458, Eusebio Sanchez Lara
Interview No. 1458, Eusebio Sanchez Lara
Combined Interviews
Eusebio Sanchez Lara started working since he was a child because his parents died. His four brothers and him started working as farmers. Sanchez heard about the bracero program and was hired in Empalme, Sonora. Sanchez worked in Santa Ana, California picking cucumbers, tomatoes, pumpkins and chili. Sanchez renewed his contract in Santa Ana for three consecutive years. Sanchez also worked picking broccoli and lettuce in Phoenix, Arizona; He remembers that picking lettuce was the work that he liked least. He got hired for the last time in 1974 and worked in Yuba City picking tomatoes and peaches.
Interview No. 1428, Luis Barozio Ceja
Interview No. 1428, Luis Barozio Ceja
Combined Interviews
Mr. Barozio talks about his family and what life was like growing up; he also chronicles the movement from working as peons to owning a small piece of land on an ejido; during the early forties, while studying as a veterinarian at the university in México, Distrito Federal, he ran out of money, and he decided to enlist in the bracero program; he describes the medical exams he underwent as part of the contracting process; because he had been a student up until he enlisted, he took a number of his books with him when crossing into the United …
Interview No. 1453, María Guadalupe Salcedo Gudiño
Interview No. 1453, María Guadalupe Salcedo Gudiño
Combined Interviews
Ms. Salcedo talks about what her life was like growing up; she vividly recalls having to collect buckets of water on a daily basis from a river that was relatively far away; when she was sixteen years old, she met a man on her ranch, and soon after, they married; his parents passed away when he was eleven years old, leaving him the home where he and María lived; by 1955, they had three children, and he decided to enlist in the bracero program; he left with a group of men from nearby ranches; ultimately, he went through contracting centers …
Interview No. 1434, Pedro Domínguez Castillo
Interview No. 1434, Pedro Domínguez Castillo
Combined Interviews
Mr. Domínguez describes his childhood; he went to school in a different town but had to stop, because his family needed help with their fishing; when he was sixteen he heard about the bracero program; he ultimately decided to enlist in 1958, out of economic necessity; at the time, he was married and had one daughter; he traveled with a group of fifteen men to the contracting center in Empalme, Sonora, México; while there he underwent medical examinations and had to wait for only three days to obtain a contract; he completed a total of three contracts and labored in …
Interview No. 1432, Tiburcio Delgado Garfia
Interview No. 1432, Tiburcio Delgado Garfia
Combined Interviews
Mr. Delgado briefly discusses his family; some of his relatives and neighbors enlisted in the bracero program; his uncles returned to México with enough money to buy land and animals; he decided to join the program in the hope of providing more for his wife; Tiburcio offers a detailed description of the process to get on the list of eligible workers; moreover, in order to enlist, the men had to pay between four and five hundred pesos; he had to give up part of his land in order to get a loan to enroll in the program; later, when men …