Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Discipline
Articles 151 - 172 of 172
Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
Interview No. 1181, Perfecta Rivas De Rodriguez
Interview No. 1181, Perfecta Rivas De Rodriguez
Combined Interviews
Ms. Rivas de Rodriguez briefly discusses her family and childhood; she recalls hearing about the courtship between her mother and father; in the midfifties her father enlisted in the bracero program, which financially helped her family, and they were able to move out of her paternal grandfather’s home and into their own; she remembers that there were always notices around town to sign up for the program; the men had to stay anywhere between eight and fifteen days in Empalme, Sonora, México; while waiting some men ate banana peels or nothing at all, and they used cardboard as blankets; the …
Interview No. 1182, Margarita Saldivar
Interview No. 1182, Margarita Saldivar
Combined Interviews
Ms. Saldivar briefly mentions her family and childhood; what she remembers most is her father, Francisco Leopoldo Saldívar, always talking to her about the United States and how it was a completely different country where people lived very well; he frequently spoke of the relationships he formed and how he felt free; on weekends he would make pancakes and bacon, because he missed the food so much; although he worked a lot, he enjoyed his time in the United States and longed to return, but he never had the opportunity; he enlisted when he was eighteen years old and regularly …
Interview No. 1167, Rafael Cortez
Interview No. 1167, Rafael Cortez
Combined Interviews
Mr. Cortez describes how the Mexican government would often send notices about forty-five day contracts with the bracero program to various cities throughout the country; upon receiving these announcements, men would travel to designated work locations in order to obtain the necessary paperwork for contracting centers; Rafael went to the center in Empalme, Sonora, México, to enlist in the program; he states that there were over twenty-five thousand men waiting at the center, but there were only between three and five thousand men processed daily; Rafael goes on to describe the medical assessments he underwent while at the center; upon …
Interview No. 1173, Sabas Luna
Interview No. 1173, Sabas Luna
Combined Interviews
Mr. Luna recounts his childhood and adolescence, particularly his experiences as a young campesino; he recalls his dad working as a bracero, which helped his family financially, but left him without a father’s guidance; consequently, he and his older brother had to care for the family and show their younger siblings how to work; at eighteen, he obtained his first bracero contract in Monterrey, Nuevo León, México, which took him to Arkansas; it rained too much there for him to earn any money; the following year, he went through a center in Chihuahua, Chihuahua, México, which took him to a …
Interview No. 1180, Carlos Fuentes
Interview No. 1180, Carlos Fuentes
Combined Interviews
Mr. Fuentes briefly describes his family, childhood, and adolescence; he becomes emotional and cries upon recalling his decision to become a bracero in the hopes of financially helping his family; initially, he went through the contracting center in Monterrey, Nuevo León, México, to enlist as a bracero; he goes on to explain the requirements, general exams, including immunizations and delousing procedures, and the overall process he underwent at the various centers he went through; as a bracero, he labored in the fields of California, Michigan, Texas, and Wyoming, picking beets, cotton, cucumbers, lemons, and lettuce; he details the different worksites, …
Interview No. 1166, Pedro Benitez
Interview No. 1166, Pedro Benitez
Combined Interviews
Mr. Benitez vividly describes his childhood, including the deaths of his mother and grandmother, being abandoned by his father, and the various resulting difficulties he and his two sisters faced; he sobs at the recollection of such events; growing up, he wandered from place to place in search of work and a place to stay; he later began picking cotton in the Mexican states of Sinaloa and Sonora; while in Sonora, during the early fifties, he picked two thousand kilograms of cotton, which allowed him to travel to Empalme, Sonora, to enlist in the bracero program; as a bracero, he …
Interview No. 1172, Marselina Meza Lo.
Interview No. 1172, Marselina Meza Lo.
Combined Interviews
Ms. Meza describes her family and what life was like growing up in a small town; her family owned a parcel of land where they planted beans, corn, and wheat; she recalls never going to school very much, because she helped care for her younger siblings; her father was a bracero in the late fifties and early sixties; he worked in California and Texas, usually on forty-five day contracts, three to four times a year; when he was gone, she and her mother were left to care for the children and work the land; in 1962, she married Nemencio Meza …
Interview No. 1174, Aurelio L. Marin
Interview No. 1174, Aurelio L. Marin
Combined Interviews
Mr. Marin recalls his father and uncles working as braceros; they would often tell him what life was like in the United States; at the age of eighteen, he decided to follow in their footsteps with the hopes of earning enough money to return to México and buy land; after receiving his military ID card and the required letter of recommendation, he went to Empalme, Sonora, México, but he had to pay money and pick cotton before being able to begin the contracting process; there were thousands of men waiting for a contract; the men were examined while there, but …
Interview No. 1177, Heriberto Rivas L.
Interview No. 1177, Heriberto Rivas L.
Combined Interviews
future for himself in helping his dad work the land nor did he see the opportunity to further his education; when he was sixteen, he came to the United States illegally; he was caught by immigration officials, and they told him about the bracero program; in 1955, he was able to obtain a bracero contract in Hermosillo, Sonora, México; he describes sneaking into the center, because there were more than twenty thousand men, and he knew he would not make it; he was then transported by train to Mexicali, Baja California, México, and then to Calexico, California; while there he …
Interview No. 1178, Jesús Rivera L.
Interview No. 1178, Jesús Rivera L.
Combined Interviews
Mr. Rivera talks about his father who became a permanent resident of the United States in the early 1900s and was repatriated during the massive deportations of the 1930s; in 1942, his father returned to the United States as a bracero and stayed with the program until 1953; as the eldest son, Jesús was left to care for his family while his father was away; in 1956, against his father’s wishes, he went to Empalme, Sonora, México, to enlist as a bracero; he describes the difficulties of surviving while waiting as well as the rudeness of the exams; from there …
Interview No. 1176, Nemecio Meza
Interview No. 1176, Nemecio Meza
Combined Interviews
Mr. Meza very briefly discusses his family; in 1959, he and his father went to Empalme, Sonora, México, to enlist in the bracero program; although they were both sent to California, they worked in different cities; he talks about braceros generally being mistreated throughout the contracting process, because the medical exams were painful, money was frequently stolen from them, they were often left hungry, and in Calexico, California, they were stripped and deloused; they endured whatever they had to out of necessity; the camps, unfortunately, were not much better; as a bracero, he worked on and off from 1959 to …
Interview No. 1164, J. Ezequiel Acevedo Perez
Interview No. 1164, J. Ezequiel Acevedo Perez
Combined Interviews
Mr. Acevedo talks about his family and childhood; as a child, his father often labored on the railroads in the United States under the bracero program; whenever he was gone, José was left to care for his younger siblings; when he was roughly seventeen, he traveled to Irapuato, Guanajuato, México, with his father, to join the program; José describes the process he underwent while there, as well as how embarrassing the physical exams were, because he was stripped naked in front of everyone; moreover, upon arriving in the United States he endured similar assessments, and he was also deloused; as …
Interview No. 1170, Jose Luis Gazca
Interview No. 1170, Jose Luis Gazca
Combined Interviews
Mr. Gazca describes his family, childhood, and adolescence; in 1955, he decided to enlist in the bracero program; to begin the contracting process, he went to Irapuato, Guanajuato, México, where he spent a day, then he travelled to Empalme, Sonora, where he spent roughly three days, before heading to Mexicali, Baja California, and finally to Calexico, California; moreover, he details the different centers he went through as well as the range of procedures he underwent; as a bracero, he labored in the fields of California and Texas, picking apples, cotton, cucumber, green beans, lettuce, plums, and tomatoes; in addition, he …
Interview No. 1171, Refugio L. Saldaña
Interview No. 1171, Refugio L. Saldaña
Combined Interviews
Ms. Saldaña describes her childhood and adolescence; she recalls meeting Nicolás, her husband, when she was fifteen, and she details their four year courtship; in 1959, a few months after their marriage, he returned to the United States on a new contract; while he was away, she stayed with her parents; shortly after his first return home, she became pregnant; his mother and sister, who lived in Santa Ana, California, insisted that Refugio have the baby in the United States; Refugio was hesitant at first, but she eventually agreed; Nicolás obtained a visitor’s permit and worked at a bakery in …
Interview No. 1165, M. Belen Acevedo
Interview No. 1165, M. Belen Acevedo
Combined Interviews
Ms. Acevedo vividly describes her family and her parents in particular; she was formally educated through the fourth grade, but in spite of her desire to continue with school, she ultimately had to stay home to help her mother with household duties; when she was seventeen, she married José Ezequiel Acevedo Pérez [See also No. 1164]; she explains how they met, their courtship, and how he had worked in the United States with the bracero program prior to their nuptials; in addition, several of her family members, including her in-laws, were also braceros; she talks about what a great …
Interview No. 1168, Rafael Covarrubias
Interview No. 1168, Rafael Covarrubias
Combined Interviews
Mr. Covarrubias briefly mentions his family and childhood; by the time he was twenty-two, he had a wife and a son, but they were in desperate need of financial assistance, which prompted him to join the bracero program; he traveled to the contracting center in Chihuahua, Chihuahua, México, where his paperwork was thoroughly checked, and he was medically examined; from there, he was transported, free of cost, by cargo train to Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, México, then he crossed into El Paso, Texas, and finally, he was taken by bus to Rio Vista, a processing center in Socorro, Texas; later, as …
Interview No. 1175, Nicolas Martínez L.
Interview No. 1175, Nicolas Martínez L.
Combined Interviews
Mr. Martínez begins by stating that many men left their homes in México, because there was not enough work to support their families; when he was roughly thirty-five years old, he enlisted in the bracero program; he explains that in order to get on the list of eligible workers in his home town he had to work in the fields there; once he was on that list, along with several hundred other men, he went through the contracting center in Empalme, Sonora, México; after waiting for up to one month, he was transported to Mexicali, Baja California, México, where he …
Interview No. 1179, Nicolas S. Saldaña
Interview No. 1179, Nicolas S. Saldaña
Combined Interviews
Mr. Saldaña describes his very humble upbringing; his father was an undocumented worker in the United States and initially sent money home to his family, but he eventually stopped; his mother and sisters were left on their own, and he weeps at the recollection of how much they suffered; in 1957, he decided to enlist as a bracero with the hopes of earning money to help his family; he explains what he went through at the different processing centers in México, including paying money to gather all the required documents, the hundreds of thousands of men waiting for contracts, how …
Interview No. 1183, Irene Solis
Interview No. 1183, Irene Solis
Combined Interviews
Ms. Solis recalls that there was no rain during the 1957 sowing season, which left them with no food or money; her husband, Fernando Barrios Domínguez, and other men from town tried to enlist in the bracero program, but they did not make it; later that same year they were able to travel to Monterrey, Nuevo León, México, and obtain a contract; although he never spoke much about his experiences, Irene recalls hearing her father-in-law assert that the men only left home out of necessity; moreover, he repeated that they were treated worse than animals while having to endure being …
Interview No. 1184, Carmen Velazquez
Interview No. 1184, Carmen Velazquez
Combined Interviews
Ms. Velazquez briefly describes her childhood and family; she recalls being young and naïve enough to believe that coming to the United States guaranteed money; when she was sixteen years old, she married José Bartolo Velázquez; shortly after their nuptials, he went to Empalme, Sonora, México, to enlist in the bracero program; while he was away, she and her ten children lived with her father; she remembers not having enough money for cloth diapers, having to tear up whatever clothes she could find, and constantly washing; what little money he did manage to send she used to buy necessities for …
Interview No. 1169, Guadalupe Garcia
Interview No. 1169, Guadalupe Garcia
Combined Interviews
Mr. García briefly describes his family; as a child, he recalls hearing about braceros and seeing them pass him by in trains; for a time, he was an undocumented worker in California; in 1953, farmers were fined for hiring such employees, and as a result he was let go; upon returning to México, he began the contracting process for the bracero program in Mexicali, Baja California; he goes on to detail the required documentation, the different contracting centers he went through, the extraordinarily long waiting times, and the thousands of men vying for contracts; in addition, he explains how the …
Interview No. 1338, Antonio Corchado
Interview No. 1338, Antonio Corchado
Combined Interviews
Mr. Corchado grew up in San Luis de Cordero, Durango; he recalls not going to school due to the lack of professors; he became a Bracero in 1956 where he was sent to Walco, Texas to harvest cotton; Mr. Corchado vividly describes having to pass medical examinations in order to get contracted as a Bracero; after being in Texas for 3 months Mr. Corchado was sent to fresno, California to harvest beetroot from 1956 to 1959; Mr. Corchado eventually returned to Texas where he harvested wheat, corn and beans; he recalls that Texas was the hardest place to live because …