Oral History Commons^™

Charles Klass: The Paper Titan Of Wmu And Failing Swimming, University Libraries

East Campus Oral Histories

WMU Alum and Adjunct Professor Charles Klass speaks with Cassie Kotrch virtually over a phone call to discuss his time as a student and the paper industry at WMU.

Paul Buckman: Campus School Kid Returns As Wmu Student, University Libraries

East Campus Oral Histories

Campus School and WMU Alum Paul Buckman meets with Cassie Kotrch virtually over Zoom to share some of his memories and stories of his times on East Campus. He shares memories of being a student at Campus School before it shut down and then returning to WMU for undergrad and graduate work.

Judy Cathcart, Admissions, Institutional Research, Judy Carthcart, Kathy Morris

Wright State University Retirees Association Oral History Project

In this February 2, 2023 oral history interview conducted by Kathy Morris, Judy Cathcart reflects on her 43-year career at Wright State University, spanning the Piqua branch campus, Admissions, and Institutional Research. She discusses the transition from manual enrollment systems to Banner, the development of institutional reporting practices, and evolving student success policies. Her account emphasizes technological change, data stewardship, and campus collaboration..

Cliff Pelloni: The King At Burger King, University Libraries

East Campus Oral Histories

WMU Alum Cliff Pelloni meets virtually via Google Meet with Cassie Kotrch to discuss his time on East Campus as a student at Western. He also describes the time he won Homecoming King.

April Nachtigal, Sledding And Views From Prospect Hill, University Libraries

East Campus Oral Histories

WMU alum April Nachtigal meets with Cassie Kotrch virtually to share some stories and memories from her time as a psych student on East Campus.

Interview No. 1750, Tarango

Combined Interviews

The audio is unintelligible

Interview No. 1762, Leyva Bustamante

Combined Interviews

In April of 1970, Leyva started working at Farah. Everyone at Farah despised their job, and she didn't understand why at first, but after two months, she realized what was right and what was wrong. Leyva, like many other Farah employees on Paisano, was fed up with the unfair treatment and low pay after only a week on the job.

She initially assumed that the hiring process was simple and that Farah employed anyone who was willing to work. Soon after, Leyva recognized that Farah had employed a large number of individuals, and that they needed to balance the number …

Interview No. 1754, Ortega

Combined Interviews

Her last name is Ortega, she was part of the Farah Strike at El Paso, Texas. She says that the Union was getting stronger because more people were getting involved. When she was working, she will notice cases of harassment and she says that many of the supervisors were trying to get advantage of other workers. She was part of the strike that many other people participated because they were fighting for their rights and for a better wage. When she was working at the company, she says that many workers will get fired for no reason or reasons that …

Interview No. 1772, Perez

Combined Interviews

She was working at Farah and she says that they will treat them really bad and that they were told that this was the best job that they could ever had. The least they can do was to continue to work but they eventually got tired of how they were abused. Her responsibilities at Farah included cleaning and cutting, which was a labor-intensive task. She claims that prior to the union, they had no one to turn to for assistance. They believed that the union would improve their situation, but it didn't work out that way. When they were employed, …

Interview No. 1770, Del Hierro

Combined Interviews

Nearly all of Farah's employees were exhausted and tired of work. That was when Del Hierro started working there. She didn’t understand the problem in Farah of Paisano that was causing all workers to be reluctant to go to work every day. A few days went by and she received her first check and when the manager told her she would be paid more, she realized she had barely been paid, and realized that the contract she signed was also a complete lie and not respected by her manager.

At first, she thought the hiring process would be so easy …

Interview No. 1775, Jaramillo De Palacio

Combined Interviews

She mentions that the companies were demanding the same quality of work and they were not realizing the amount of work they were giving to the workers, and it was an excessive amount of it. She says that the strikes separated people because it was a movement that had different opinions, but in the end they were fighting for the same thing. The union was created to support employees but the workers realized that that wasn’t true at all. When the strike first started she couldn’t ever imagine that the strike was going to be as big as it was, …

Interview No. 1776, Paraa

Combined Interviews

She says that everything is back in busisnes at Farah and that the new president of Farah is not fighting with the union any more. She says that many people are getting left off and many people just like her she was let off and came back 3 times in a row and she says that she is thinking that is better for her to start studying. She says that Willy Farah, the owner, was very hated and loved at the same tiem and she says that many people will give them gifts such as bringing him mariachi and workers …

Interview No. 1774, Jaramillo

Combined Interviews

Jaramillo was born in San Antonio after her parents cross the border thru Laredo when immigration wasn’t very strict. After a year they moved to El Paso, Texas where all of her other siblings were born.. One of the things that she admires about growing up in El Paso is that almost everyone knew each other or knows someone who knows them. Her mother owned a restaurant and her father a tailoring shop in which Jaramillo and her siblings grew up. After a couple of years her father passed away. Her mother then decided to sell the tailoring shop and …

Interview No. 1777, Tarango

Combined Interviews

Tarangos fathers’ parents were from Mexico and they passed away when she was very little. She never got to meet them. Her grandparent where from Leon Guanajuato, Mexico as well as his dad. Tarango mentioned that most of his family on her dads’ side were shoe makers back in Mexico, which was all he talked about to Tarango about. Sometimes he would talk about God or the Bible, but mostly about the shoe repair shop they had in Mexico. When Tarango’s dad came to the United States in the 1911 and he didn’t know English very well, but he managed …

Interview No. 1781, Sanchez

Combined Interviews

Sanchez grandparents took her in and his brother after his father passed away during the war. A couple of years after leaving with them, his grandfather got fired. Sanchez grandma and mother then started to work to support the family, since his grandpa couldn’t do it anymore. Her Aunts used to work at Luby’s to help support them. After a couple of years, they went to live with her mother and his husband and he bought them a new home. Sanchez mentioned that he was a great man that always push them to do best and to go to school. …

Interview No. 1780, Arieta

Combined Interviews

Arieta started off her interview by mentioning that she had always wanted to study to be a nurse. Her husband didn’t believe in her because she was 30 when she began trying to get into nursing. She even mentioned that she felt old to be studying, but she really wanted to be somebody and have a life other than just being a housewife.

Arieta was tired of being at home and not knowing anything about the world. She ended up not being a nurse because at that time they started to ask for people to have a high school degree …

Interview No. 1779, Del Palacio

Combined Interviews

Del Palacio was a worker at Farah during the 1970’s. She first started to work for the company when the working conditions were not as bad. Soon things in the company starting to go South. Her quota became higher and higher every week and she was not able to meet the quota many times. Her boss didn’t care if it was literally impossible to complete that many tasks in a short period of time, he just wanted the work done no matter what.

Many of the workers at Farah during that time lived in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Those workers had …

Interview No. 1784, Hernandez

Combined Interviews

She was born in Alamogordo, New Mexico, May 12, 1929. She had a very big family and she got to meet her grandmother and she was living in Ciudad Juarez, so they moved from Alamogordo to Juarez to be with her. Her grandmother used to have a son that had an accident in a mine, and they got a lot of money for compensation, but the son of her uncle spent everything. She was only 6 years old, and her grandmother died when she was 10 years old, they weren’t living with her, but they lived close, so they visit …

Interview No. 1785, Telles

Combined Interviews

Audio Unintelligible

Interview No. 1778, Herrera

Combined Interviews

She said her husband worked for Farah, but they treated him very poorly, and were told to keep working with the bad consditionds. All they could do was keep working, but eventually tired of the abuse. She says that his His job at Farah included cutting metals that left a lot of metal debrie, which were labor intensive and heavy jobs. She claims that before the union there was no one to turn to for help and his husband was part of the union. They believed a union would improve their situation, but it didn't work. When you were hired, …