Labor History Commons^™

Interview No. 1381, Ramón Valencia

Combined Interviews

Mr. Valencia traveled to Empalme, Sonora to begin the hiring process for the Bracero Program carrying his birth certificate and school records. After waiting about twenty days in Empalme, he went to Benjamin Gil in order to take the train to Mexicali. The next step in the process was to travel to El Centro, California. Then in El Centro, California, the authorities conducted medical tests on the applicants. Finally, Mr. Valencia took a bus to Ventura California and started working in a little town named Saticoy. Mr. Valencia worked on the orchards of lemon, orange and strawberry earning salary was …

Interview No. 1600, Agustin Diaz Roldan

Combined Interviews

He states that he rotated working in Imperial Valley, Phoenix, Arizona, and Salinas, California from 1954-1960, renewing his contract eighteen months at a time with the same farm company, he picked cotton, lettuce, tomatoes, chilly, asparagus, and strawberries; he also worked as a cook for the farmers, he remembers men were given three meals with lunch being delivered to the fields, they were charged $1.75 a day for all three meals, he would work seven days a week; he recalls in detail the procedure he went through to become a bracero; he used oil and dirt to make his hands …

Interview No. 1389, Felipe César Chan-Noh

Combined Interviews

Mr. Chan-noh briefly recalls his childhood and the financial difficulties he and his family endured; he married at the age of seventeen; when he was eighteen years old he enlisted in the Mexican military; he heard about the bracero program while in the military; he went through the hiring process several years later; he recalls the entire process, including that he recruited forty to fifty men from his hometown to join the bracero program; in addition, he mentions going through the processing center in Empalme, Sonora, México; he recalls that one of the requirements for the braceros was to have …

Interview No. 1390, Antonio Cisneros Piña

Combined Interviews

Mr. Cisneros speaks of the obstacles he and his family faced working in the fields of México; in 1955, he married, and two years later, he had his first daughter; soon after his wife became very ill, which prompted him to enlist in the bracero program in 1958; he discusses waiting to get on the list of available workers before traveling by train and bus to get to the contracting center in Empalme, Sonora, México; in addition, he describes the difficulties he underwent while waiting there, including becoming sick from the heat; the resulting fever kept him from passing the …

Interview No. 1392, Alma Delia Fraile Barozio

Combined Interviews

Ms. Fraile talks about her family and her life growing up; her grandfather and uncles served in the bracero program, but she was too young to remember any details; by the time she was eighteen years old, she was involved with the Confederación Nacional Campesina (CNC) and their fight for equal land rights for women on ejidos; at the time, she was also studying for a career in social work; in time, she married and had two children; she and her husband were political activists involved in various social causes and cooperative projects; some time later, she began working …

Interview No. 1584, Ventura Gutierrez

Combined Interviews

Mr. Gutiérrez briefly recalls his childhood and the neighborhood he grew up in; he recalls accidently setting his home on fire while playing cowboys and Indians; they lost all of their belongings in the fire and as a result they moved to a Mexican barrio; he discusses the Chicano Movement and organizations such as MEChA, UMAS, the Partido de la Raza Unida, MAPA and the U.F.W.; he briefly discusses his time in the military; in 1972, Mr. Gutiérrez married; Mr. Gutiérrez worked as a teacher’s aid at Coachella Valley High School (1976-77) and obtained his elementary teaching credentials at San …

Interview No. 1397, Priciliano Suarez

Combined Interviews

Mr. Suarez talks about is hometown and working in agriculture on his father’s land; he briefly recalls his family and childhood; he remembers hearing stories about his father working in the United States, which made him want to do the same; in 1953 Mr. Suarez married at the age of seventeen; he and his wife had three children; in 1959 he went through the hiring process to become a bracero; as part of the process, he was medically examined, vaccinated, and deloused; in addition he mentions going through the center in Empalme Sonora, Mexico; from there Mr. Suarez was sent …

Interview No. 1398, J. Jesus Villaseñor Santoyo

Combined Interviews

Mr. Villaseñor talks about his life growing up; during the midforties, his uncle fulfilled several bracero contracts; Jesús saw how well it went for his uncle, and in 1955, he decided to enlist in the bracero program; he describes how he was able to get on the list of eligible workers in Irapuato, Guanajuato, México; from there, he was transported by airplane to Mexicali, Baja California, México, and then to Calexico, California, where ranchers picked the workers they wanted; as a bracero, he labored in the fields of Arizona and California picking various fruits and vegetables; he goes on to …

Interview No. 1393, Ángel Guzmán Domínguez

Combined Interviews

Mr. Guzmán talks about growing up, including his family and learning how to make shoes; one of his uncles served in the bracero program, which convinced him to do the same; in 1944, he and five of his friends traveled by boat, bus and train before finally arriving at the contacting station in Queretaro, México; with the proper documentation, he was quickly called and passed all the medical exams; he explains that the men in Queretaro went straight to the railroads, while those processed in Guanajuato, México, went to work in the fields; from the contracting center he was transported …

Interview No. 1396, Jesús Soberano Rodríguez

Combined Interviews

Mr. Soberano talks about helping his father with the livestock at a very young age; in 1959, at the age of nineteen, he went through the hiring process to become a bracero; as part of the process, he was medically examined and deloused; in addition, he talks about the embarrassment he endured during the examination; he traveled to Mexico City, Mexico and then to the processing center in Empalme, Sonora, Mexico; his first contract was in El Centro, California working in the cotton fields; he recalls the working conditions while caring for livestock in El Centro, California; Mr. Soberano recalls …

Interview No. 1394, Félix Loera Carrillo

Combined Interviews

Mr. Loera briefly describes his family and how they worked on an hacienda, but they did not live there; when he was seventeen years old, he came to the United States to work, without documents, in the hope of having a better life; after two years, he returned to México and shortly thereafter married; by the late fifties, he and his wife had two children and were struggling to make ends meet, which led to his decision to enlist in the bracero program; although most men had to pay to get on the list of available workers, he knew someone …

Interview No. 1395, Ofelia Morales

Combined Interviews

Mrs. Morales discusses making blouses at home and selling them to a maquilladora; Mrs. Morales recalls that her father inherited land and he cultivated guayaba; a priest visited with her parents in order to discuss Mr. Felix Loera’s marriage proposal; she recalls her parents being very upset; she was sixteen yeas old when she married Mr. Felix Loera; they had one son, Abadón; they learned of the bracero program in their hometown; she moved back to her parents home while her husband was working in the bracero program; she talks about receiving money from her husband and how she travelled …

Interview No. 1391, Nicasio Cortinas Ortíz

Combined Interviews

Mr. Cortinaz Ortíz briefly recalls his childhood and the financial difficulties he and his family endured; he talks about his hometown and working in agriculture while growing up; he married ten days before he joined the bracero program; when he was twenty-five years old, he heard about a call for braceros and decided to enlist in the program; he traveled to the contracting center in Monterrey, México; he details the harsh conditions he and the other men endured while waiting at the center; his first contract took him to work in the cotton fields of Texas; he goes on to …

Zach S. Henderson Library Special Collections Oral History Collection, Zach S. Henderson Library Special Collections

Finding Aids

This collection consists of the transcripts, original cassette tape recordings of public speeches, lectures, and oral history interviews spanning from 1962-2007. Interviews were conducted and recorded by Georgia Southern University’s Department of History and Zach S. Henderson Library Special Collections. Those interviewed are mostly locals to Bulloch County and neighboring counties. Interviewees discuss their personal and family lives, historical events they were a part of, and circumstances surrounding their successes. The public speeches and lectures originated from an assortment of sources.

Find this collection in the University Libraries' catalog.

Interview No. 1576, Sebastian Martinez

Combined Interviews

Mr. Martínez briefly discusses his family; when he was roughly fourteen or fifteen years old, he began working with his father alongside braceros, chopping cotton and other such field duties; he goes on to discuss his experiences working with braceros, and he gives an account of their living and working conditions, provisions, recreational activities, religion, and their general dispositions; in addition, he explains the relationships between the braceros and the surrounding community in Pecos, Texas, which was largely segregated; several of his female relatives, however, did have romantic relationships with braceros; he also speaks about the children of braceros going …

Interview No. 1578, Andy Imutan

Combined Interviews

Mr. Imutan very briefly describes his travels from the Philippines to California; he began working in Delano, California, but he quickly became involved with the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO); in September of 1965, he was part of a strike that was a continuation of earlier efforts in Coachella, California, to achieve better pay; events in Coachella turned violent, with people getting hurt and equipment being damaged; after demands were met in Coachella, the same companies refused the same wages in Delano, hence the continuing strike; within roughly a week, Cesar Chavez joined the strike; …

Interview No. 1577, Dolores Huerta

Combined Interviews

Ms. Huerta briefly talks about her parents and what her life was like growing up; as an adult, she began working with braceros as part of the Community Service Organization (CSO); she would often go to the bracero labor camps to help them when they were injured, which included obtaining doctors and/or lawyers when necessary; her mother owned a hotel at the time, where the braceros often stayed; she cared for them, giving them curfews and making sure they did not drink too much; she even invited them to local dances and encouraged them to get involved in the community; …

Interview No. 1575, Sally Gutierrez Mcquinn

Combined Interviews

Ms. Gutierrez briefly describes her childhood and family; in the early 1940s she was hired as a bookkeeper for an operational office in Gilroy, California; she was in charge of payroll for the braceros, and she saw firsthand that 10 percent was discounted from their salary; it was her understanding that there was an agreement between the United States and Mexico that the money would be mailed to Mexico so that the braceros would have it available to them when they returned; bracero complaints went through her, because she was the only one in the office; she recalls one instance …

Interview No. 1586, Fred Deyoung

Combined Interviews

Mr. DeYoung describes the work-a-day lives of Braceros on a lettuce harvesting crew; he defines “hoeing and thinning” and the difference between this type of work and “harvesting;” he details the process of harvesting lettuce and provides job descriptions for the multiple roles this process requires including, cutters, spreaders, clampers, stitches, wind rowers, and loaders; he lists the type of clothing items the workers would wear in the fields; he discusses the quality and type of food Braceros ate, as well as the conditions of the labor camps and barracks; Mr. DeYoung also describes the leisure and weekend activities of …

Interview No. 1585, Cecilia Concha Estela

Combined Interviews

Ms. Concha recalls what it was like growing up during the 1930s; her mother would shop in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, in order to avoid the rationing of food; she recounts her memories of World War II, while she was a high school student at St. Joseph’s Academy from 1941 to 1945; in addition, she describes the discrimination immigrants in El Paso, Texas, faced; she also details her employment opportunities during and after the war; her grandfather, Trinidad Concha, served as an assistant director to Porfirio Diaz, before arriving in El Paso, in 1896; he formed a musical group that crossed …

Ms. Joanna Boley-Lee On Leisure, Maureen Elgersman Lee

We Exist Series 4: Quotes

Interviewer: Maureen Elgersman Lee.

Interviewee: Ms. Joanna Boley-Lee (age 66; born 1937 in Newark, New Jersey; lived in Maine for 8 ½ years)

“I think my closing reflections would be that when I came to Lewiston I remember walking across the bridge that goes across the Androscoggin, the extension of Main Street, just sort of looking out, and there was a black man with a camera and I thought, good, there's a black person. So I went up to him and I introduced myself, told him I was new in the area and he tells me he was visiting. I …

Mrs. Rose Jackson On Employment, Hamida Suja

Quotes

Mrs. Rose Jackson Full Interview

Rose Jackson was born in Louisville, Mississippi, to Willie O Clayton Hathorne and Bertha Ophelia (Young) Hathorne; she had three sisters and three brothers. She left school at fifteen to marry her first husband, with whom she had five children; after his death, she married John Jackson, with whom she had another daughter. She worked as a cleaner and hairdresser, and received her diploma from Portland High night school. At the time of this interview, she had been living in Maine 40 years; her family moved here because she had a brother-in-law who had been …

Reverend Albert Jackson And Mrs. Clemmie Jackson On Education, Maureen Elgersman-Lee

Quotes

Reverend Albert Jackson and Mrs. Clemmie Jackson Full Interview

Rev. Albert Jackson was born in Slabfork, West Virginia, in 1942. At the time of this interview, he had been living in the Lewiston Auburn area for around forty three years. Clemmie Jackson, Rev. Jackson’s wife, was born in Marengo County, Alabama, in 1948; at the time of this interview, she had been living in Lewiston Auburn for around three years. The couple had three sons. Rev. Jackson graduated from high school in Lewiston Auburn; Mrs. Jackson graduated high school in Alabama, and received a degree in sociology with a minor …

Reverend Albert Jackson And Mrs. Clemmie Jackson On Employment, Maureen Elgersman-Lee

Quotes

Reverend Albert Jackson and Mrs. Clemmie Jackson Full Interview

(Clemmie not pictured)

Rev. Albert Jackson was born in Slabfork, West Virginia, in 1942. At the time of this interview, he had been living in the Lewiston Auburn area for around forty three years. Clemmie Jackson, Rev. Jackson’s wife, was born in Marengo County, Alabama, in 1948; at the time of this interview, she had been living in Lewiston Auburn for around three years. The couple had three sons. Rev. Jackson graduated from high school in Lewiston Auburn; Mrs. Jackson graduated high school in Alabama, and received a degree in …

Reverend Albert Jackson And Mrs. Clemmie Jackson On Leisure, Maureen Elgersman Lee

We Exist Series 4: Quotes

Interviewer: Maureen Elgersman Lee

Interviewees: Reverend Albert Jackson (born in Slabfork, Virginia; age 61; lived in Maine for 43 years) and Mrs. Clemmie Jackson (born March 1948 in Marengo County, Alabama; age 55; lived in Maine for 3.5 years)

“Well I like it. You know, I describe it as, ah, a place where you can shop. I notice when it rain, a lot of people go out to eat. They like to eat here in Maine. And I've noticed -- I've (inaudible) –but this is a good area to live in.”

Interviewer: “Are there any events in Lewiston and Auburn's …

Mr. James Sheppard On Leisure, Sanela Zukic

We Exist Series 4: Quotes

Interviewer: Sanela Zukic

Interviewee: Mr. James Sheppard (born in New York City in 1924; both his parents immigrated from Antigua in the West Indies to Canada, then they came to the United States in 1923; moved to Maine in 1971).

“But in addition to that we'd have lots of summer events: picnics and that sort. But that's separate; that's a different thing.”

“Between my wife and I, we saw to it that they did a lot of reading. And we did a lot of traveling. We did a lot of traveling to the Caribbean and South America, and we took …

Emma Jackson On Employment, Maureen Elgersman-Lee

Quotes

Emma Jackson Full Interview

Emma Jackson was born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1941. She and her husband John Isaac Jackson had three children, and at the time of the interview she had been living in the Lewiston-Auburn area for forty five years. She spent the first ten years of her life in Maine doing domestic work, and then worked in the nursing field for thirty years, at a number of different facilities owned by Central Maine Medical Center. She discusses her life in Lewiston, challenges in finding housing she and her husband faced when they first moved to the area, …

Interview No. 1572, John Tomlin

Combined Interviews

Mr. Tomlin recalls how his mother ran the farm after his father’s passing by using Italian and German POWs; in 1946, after finishing his tour of duty in the Army, he returned home and began attending New Mexico State University; the following year in 1947, he started running the farm on his own while he went to school; in 1948, he began hiring braceros; he used a crew of thirty men during the cotton harvest, which ran from mid September to the beginning of December; he had about six braceros who stayed on year-round driving tractors and irrigating; oftentimes, he …

Interview No. 1574, Raymundo Villa

Combined Interviews

Mr. Villa recalls his childhood growing up on a farm near Ysleta, Texas; he remembers that before the braceros were hired as workers, German POWs and the Tigua Indians would often pick cotton on the farm where he lived; when the braceros were contracted, he acted as an interpreter and aide because his boss could not speak Spanish and they could not speak English; oftentimes he had to help his father work on the farm, and he was unable to finish high school; he recalls picking cotton, the size of the sacks they would use, and how much they were …

Interview No. 1570, Sam Sanchez

Combined Interviews

Mr. Sanchez recalls his childhood and early adolescence; he would often work in the fields with his father picking cotton; during the early years of World War II, Italian POWs and undocumented workers often helped with the harvesting of the cotton as well; he recalls missing the first two or so months of school to help with the crops; in addition, he also recounts how he would often go to Rio Vista, a processing center for braceros in Socorro, Texas, to pick up food slops from the mess hall for his father’s pigs; later, when he graduated from high school, …