History Commons^™

Interview No. 1439, Hilario Martínez Cortez

Combined Interviews

Mr. Martínez talks about his family and life growing up on an hacienda; moreover, he weeps upon recollecting his early childhood and his father’s subsequent death; he also remembers one of his older brothers trying to enlist in the bracero program but not being accepted; sometime later, Hilario began working as a tailor, but he did not make enough money, which led him to enroll in the program; his family did not want him to go, because they were afraid he would not return; even so, he went through contracting centers in Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Monterrey, Nuevo León, and Empalme, …

Interview No. 1425, Santos Alejandro González

Combined Interviews

Mr. González talks about growing up on an ejido and the various difficulties he and his family faced; in 1952, he and his cousin came to work in the United States without documents, because they did not know about the bracero program; two years later, in 1954, Santos was able to enlist as a bracero in Monterrey, Nuevo León, México; the contracting process was especially difficult due to the examinations and delousing procedures he underwent; he describes how he and other men suffered and how they were treated like rented animals; as a bracero, he labored in the fields of …

Interview No. 1442, Roberto Meléndez López

Combined Interviews

Mr. Meléndez talks about his family and growing up on an ejido where he learned to work the land and care for animals; when the land did not produce enough crops to maintain the family, he decided to enlist in the bracero program; his father was too old to work, and he had to help support the family; in 1955, he went to Monterrey, Nuevo León, México with the necessary paperwork and joined the program; as a bracero, he worked in Arkansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Texas and Wisconsin picking, irrigating and driving a tractor in the beet, corn, cotton and tomato …

Interview No. 1431, Santos Cruz Hernández

Combined Interviews

Mr. Cruz briefly talks about his family and his parents in particular; he recalls the difficulties they faced living on an ejido; in 1942, he learned about the bracero program and how some men worked on the railroads; a few years later, in 1945, he decided to enlist in the program; he usually traveled by bus to the contracting centers with groups of fifteen to thirty men; roughly eighty men from his ejido joined the program; from the center in Monterrey, Nuevo León, México, he was transported to Hidalgo, Texas, where ranchers picked the workers they wanted; as a …

What We Do When We’Re Not Blogging (For China Beat)…

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

There’s a virtual version of the game tag, in which bloggers who get a cyber-tap on the shoulder have to reveal five things people don’t know about them on their blog, and then can call on five people to do the same. We enjoy it when bloggers we enjoy reading, such as Rebecca MacKinnon, get tagged and we get to learn things like, in her case, which Disney cartoon she was “obsessed” with as a child. Despite the title of this post, though, you won’t get those sorts of personal revelations here. So, I’m afraid you’ll end up frustrated if …

Interview No. 1445, Roman Olivares Hernandez

Combined Interviews

Olivares Hernandez traveled to Monterrey with his father. Hernandez studied in Monterey, México until high school. After he studied, he traveled to the United States to work without documentation. In 1958, Olivares was hired in the bracero program. The first place where Olivares worked was Allenton, Michigan picking cucumber. His bosses treated him well and were very happy about that. The food offered in the fields was really good, once the braceros complained about the food and his bosses fixed the problem. Olivares is very disappointed because the American government did not give him his retirement money and he is …

Martha George Roper

African American Funeral Programs

No abstract provided.

Annie Bell Brannen Pope

African American Funeral Programs

No abstract provided.

Interview No. 1447, Rosalío Padilla Barajas

Combined Interviews

Mr. Padilla talks about his family, how they became part of an ejido and what life was like for them; he also offers a detailed description of the agricultural restructuring occurring during the midthirties; life was extremely difficult, and some of his brothers enlisted in the bracero program; Rosalío eventually decided to follow in their footsteps after he and his family faced problems with the ejido; as part of the contracting process, he underwent medical exams and was stripped and deloused; after bathing, he and other men were kept naked and told to exercise in an attempt to determine …

Willie Paul Shatteen

African American Funeral Programs

Willie_-Paul-_Shatteen.pdf - Funeral program

Rock Spring Missionary Baptist Church - Butler County, Kentucky (Mss 76), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scans (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Collection 76. Photocopy of minute books, 1838-1883, 1908-1925, 1925-1953, 1953-1964 (4) of the Rock Spring Missionary Baptist Church of Harreldsville, Butler County, Kentucky. Prior to 1844 the church was known as the United Baptist Church of Christ at Concord and was located near Quality in Butler County, Kentucky.

Mt. Zion Church Of Christ - Warren County, Kentucky (Mss 79), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Collection 79. Record book, 11 October 1852 to 8 September 1954 (63 p.) of Mt. Zion Church of Christ, Warren County, Kentucky.

Mass (On)Line

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Hu Jintao participated in an online discussion today (his first) with Chinese netizens where he answered questions about his online habits (he emphasized that he uses the internet to see what Chinese people think about the Communist Party—the mass line for a new generation). When NPR broadcast a report on Hu’s online summit this morning, they noted that Hu met with Chinese “netizens,” and then proceeded to define the term. Regardless of whether “netizen” is a new term to you, or you are a netizen, here are a few additional readings and source pages about the Chinese internet.

1. A …

Connections, Buffalo Gay Men's Chorus

Programs

We're doctors, lawyers, movers, shakers, friends of neighbors, policy makers, teachers, preachers, construction workers, fathers, roofers, masseurs and so much more...

Willie Clemmon Boston

African American Funeral Programs

Willie_Clemmon_Boston.pdf - Funeral program for Willie Clemmon Boston

The Lord Of The Wolves?, Haiyan Lee

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Since hitting the bookstores in China in 2004, Wolf Totem has been a most unlikely bestseller and a phenomenon to be reckoned with. From the start, it has been riddled with paradoxes: it was written by a political science professor who had to remain anonymous because of his run-ins with authority in 1989; it went on to win ten domestic literary prizes with the endorsements of party officials, scholars, and business tycoons alike; the audio version was serialized on Radio Beijing; its sales figure is dwarfed only by that of Mao’s Little Red Book in the history of modern publishing …

Wilson, William Michael, B. 1956 (Mss 224), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 224. Unedited draft of Wilson's book, "History of the 11th Kentucky Volunteer Regiment," a Union regiment consisting chiefly of soldiers from southcentral Kentucky. They participated in numerous engagements in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, and Tennessee.

A Visual Top Five

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

For those seeking a little visual stimulation to perk up the mid-June doldrums:

1. A new online magazine called 1000 Words is currently featuring a set of images from Chinese artist Li Wei (follow the main link and then select Li Wei). The photographs feature Li as an irrepressible Superman with poor aim—head often buried (in the ground, through a car windshield, under ice), he appears to have hurtled forward without pause and Michael Grieves, who wrote the accompanying essay, draws analogies between Li’s captured falls and pell-mell Chinese development.

2. The Council on Foreign Relations has posted a slideshow …

Bernice Gertrude Love Mccray

African American Funeral Programs

No abstract provided.

The Gate Of Heavenly Pacification, P. K. Cassel

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Two weeks ago, the nineteenth anniversary of the suppression of the student movement of 1989 passed. Although the anniversary passed more quietly than usual, Tian’anmen 天安門 keeps its special place in our minds and few places in China can compete with the stature of the gate and the square that bears its name.

For five hundred years, the gate was an important site for official functions during the Ming and Qing dynasties, and following the fall of the empire, the gate has grown in prominence. When the republic was inaugurated in 1912, the first president Yuan Shikai used the gate …

Book Review: Reclaiming History: The Assassination Of President John F. Kennedy (2007), Donald E. Wilkes Jr.

Popular Media

Book Review of RECLAIMING HISTORY: THE ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY by Vincent Bugliosi (NY: W.W. Norton, 2007)

Preserving The Premier’S Calligraphy At Beichuan Middle School, Richard Kraus

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

The Beichuan Middle School lost a thousand students in May’s devastating Sichuan earthquake. When Premier Wen Jiabao visited the school’s temporary quarters, he wrote four characters on a blackboard to inspire the students: “distress rejuvenates a nation” (多难兴邦). After his departure, teachers and students could not bear to erase his chalk inscription, which was covered in plastic until the Sichuan Cultural Relics Bureau could devise a method for permanently preservingWen’s handwriting.

Although Premier Wen’s chalk on a blackboard may seem difficult to preserve, China has a deeply established tradition of copying calligraphy. Many of the great works of past masters …

Stamps, Rosalyn Marie (Gourley), 1919-2008 - Collector (Mss 223), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 223. Three recipe books collected by Rosalyn Marie (Gourley) Stamps; eight yearbooks, correspondence, and miscellaneous items from the Mabel Thomas Garden Club, Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Felts, Archibald, 1758-1825 (Sc 1699), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 1699. Typescripts of Felts's 1817 will, 1825 estate inventory, and family Bible records. A scanned copy of the Felts family Bible record as well as the supporting material for his pension petition can be accessed by clicking on the "Additional Files" links. Also includes an article about Felts's grandson Daniel Boler, who became an elder of the Mount Lebanon, New York Shaker community.

Stone, Dan Ray, 1921-2007 (Mss 196), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 196. Letters sent to Stone and his mother, Nelle Stone, Bowling Green, Kentucky, during World War II from friends in armed service around the world. Includes letters, holiday greeting cards, telegrams, V-mail and postcards. Almost all correspondents were members of a local fraternal club known as the Senators which was composed of graduates of Bowling Green High School.

Correspondence; 2008-06-16; Nys School Boards Association, Catherine Collins

Correspondence

No abstract provided.

Ccu Newsletter, June 16, 2008, Coastal Carolina University

Coastal Carolina University Newsletter

Coastal Carolina University's weekly on-campus newsletter.

Ada News - 06/16/2008, American Dental Association, Publishing Division

ADA News

Established in 1970 as the official newspaper of the American Dental Association, the ADA News serves practicing dentists and others allied to the dental profession in the U.S. and internationally. It is the No. 1 source of news and information about the many benefits and services the ADA delivers to members daily as well as timely information on scientific, social, political and economic developments affecting dentistry and health care.

Coming Distractions: Youth And Wealth In China

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Both Frontline’s new documentary “Young and Restless in China” (set to air on Tuesday, June 17) and Duncan Hewitt’s soon-to-be-released book, China: Getting Rich First: A Modern Social History, take as their premise the unprecedented growth and possibility in China during the past two decades. The components of this story are youth, economic opportunity, and migration. While both Frontline’s documentary and Hewitt’s book provide new details and new vignettes to illustrate the changes of the last few decades, China watchers will find the basic storylines familiar.

“Young and Restless in China” (details are available at the website, which after 9 …

Reith Lectures: English Lessons, Graham Earnshaw

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Jonathan Spence is of course one of the great authorities on Chinese history, but the value of history is in its relevance to the present, so at a time of such huge volatility in the affairs of China, there is great curiosity as to how he views current trends. We have the means to find out in his current series of Reith Lectures being given one per week in England and broadcast through the BBC’s websites, currently non-blocked in China.

The first lecture was about the role of Confucius and Confucian thought in Chinese history, and in the q&a section, …