Oral History Commons^™

Interview With Rich Arenberg By Brien Williams, Richard 'Rich' A. Arenberg

George J. Mitchell Oral History Project

Biographical Note
Richard A. “Rich” Arenberg, the son of Bernard and Mary Arenberg, was born on October 16, 1945, in Norwich Connecticut. He was a campus activist during his undergraduate years at Boston University, and worked on some local campaigns, including the campaign of Tom Atkins, the first African American city councilor in Boston. He received a Ph.D. in political science also from Boston University and has a background in survey research. He worked as the issues director for Paul Tsongas’s first congressional campaign in Massachusetts and continued on Tsongas’s congressional and Senate staff until Tsongas retired from the Senate …

Interview With Steve Hart By Brien Williams, W. 'Steve' Stephen Hart

George J. Mitchell Oral History Project

Biographical Note
Walter Stephen Hart was born January 17, 1955, in Washington, DC, to Peter William Hart and Mary Jane Strauss Hart; his parents were librarians. He attended Arizona State University, where he earned a degree in mass communications. He worked at a radio station in New Hampshire and covered the 1980 presidential primaries. He returned to school at Ball State, graduating with a degree in journalism and a minor in public relations, after which he moved to Maine, where his wife was working. He worked for Maine congressional candidate Phil Merrill in the 1982 primary, and after Merrill lost …

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 With Lee Lockwood By Brien Williams, Lee E. Lockwood

George J. Mitchell Oral History Project

Biographical Note
Lee Enfield Lockwood was born February 17, 1946, in Cumberland, Maryland, to Sarah and Sam Enfield. She grew up in Houston, Texas, attending a local public elementary school and a private high school. She was graduated from Duke University in 1968 with a major in political science. She moved to Washington, DC, and was hired onto Senator Muskie’s staff. She worked for Muskie from 1969 to 1978, first sorting and reading the mail and eventually handling speech writing and legislation. She worked for Senator Mitchell when he was majority leader, handling correspondence in his Senate office from 1989-1993. …

Interview No. 1419, María De Los Ángeles Luna De Robles

Combined Interviews

Ms. Luna de Robles discusses her family; she talks about her marriage in 1958, to Crescencio Robles; they were from the same ejido, which was how they met; she was nineteen years old, and he was twenty-two at the time; prior to their marriage, he enlisted in the bracero program, at the age of eighteen, and he continued working with the program; he went through the contracting process in Chihuahua, México; as a bracero, he labored in the fields of Arizona, California, New México and Texas; he wrote letters to her and sent money about once a month; she usually …

Interview With Joan Pedersen By Andrea L’Hommedieu, Joan S. Pedersen

George J. Mitchell Oral History Project

Biographical Note
Joan (Speed) Pedersen was born on February 11, 1940, in Boston, Massachusetts. Her mother was a legal secretary for an attorney’s office and her father worked in distribution for Firestone Tire. She grew up in West Roxbury, a heavily Irish Catholic part of Boston. She married and moved to Cape Cod, and later to Maine. From 1982-1984, she worked in Senator Mitchell’s field office in Lewiston, Maine, serving constituents. She later worked for Senator William S. Cohen and Representative John E. Baldacci.

Summary
Interview includes discussion of: growing up in Boston in the 1940s and 1950s; work as …

Interview With Christine Williams By Brien Williams, Christine G. Williams

George J. Mitchell Oral History Project

Biographical Note
Christine G. Williams was born January 20, 1952, in Boston, Massachusetts, to Adelaide and Donald Williams, a Methodist minister. She earned a degree in history from Boston University. As a VISTA volunteer she taught on the Rosebud reservation in South Dakota before returning to New England to teach at Brunswick High School in Brunswick, Maine, for the 1975-1976 school year. Subsequently, after teaching in New Hampshire for four years, she was hired by George Mitchell’s U.S. Senate office in 1982 and worked there until 1994, focusing on health care issues in the latter years. She later went to …

Interview With Charlie Jacobs By Andrea L’Hommedieu, Charles 'Charlie' Jacobs

George J. Mitchell Oral History Project

Biographical Note
Charles “Charlie” Jacobs was born on May 10, 1948, in St. Stephen, New Brunswick. His parents, Isabelle and Stephen Jacobs, were both teachers. He lived mainly in Buxton, Maine, until the age of ten, when his family moved to Bethel. He attended Gould Academy and the University of Maine, Orono, graduating in 1971. At Orono, Jacobs became politically active, joining the student government and supporting Eugene McCarthy’s presidential bid in 1968. After graduation, he worked for Governor Ken Curtis, serving on the Governor’s Council until it was abolished in 1976. He then worked on Senator Muskie’s 1976 Senate …

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

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 With Charlotte Rutherford, Monica Fields-Fears

Black United Front Oral History Project

Interview with Charlotte Rutherford by Monica Fields-Fears on November 19 and 22, 2008, at Charlotte Rutherford’s home in Portland, Oregon.

Interview No. 1414, Santa María Madera

Combined Interviews

Mr. Madera recalls learning about the bracero program and how two hundred men were chosen from his town to enlist in Empalme, Sonora, México; in 1956, when he was twenty-two years old, he and his brother-in-law traveled to Guadalajara, Jalisco, México before finally arriving in Empalme; he describes the requirements and process he underwent, including medical exams; from there he was transported to Mexicali, Baja California, México by train; upon crossing into the United States, he was treated badly and subjected to further assessments and delousing procedures; moreover, he spent the night at a large barracks in Calexico, California before …

Interview No. 1411, Guadalupe Durán

Combined Interviews

Mr. Durán briefly talks about his parents and siblings; growing up, he worked in the fields, but he eventually had to go to Sonora, México, because there was not enough work at home; while there, he picked two thousand kilograms of cotton, and he was able to obtain the necessary documents to enlist in the bracero program; he went through the contracting center in Empalme, Sonora, México; from there he was transported to Mexicali, Baja California, México and then to Calexico, California, where he was stripped, examined and deloused; he comments that he was treated badly when he crossed into …

Interview No. 1416, Antonio Nuño Gonzáles

Combined Interviews

Mr. Gonzáles talks about the bracero program as a means to achieving a better life for himself and his family, which is why he decided to enlist; to begin the process, he traveled to Empalme, Sonora, México, where he picked cotton to get the necessary papers; as part of the contracting process, he underwent medical exams, which he describes as rude, and they were much more thorough in Mexicali, Baja California, México; one of his brothers did not pass the exams because of his lungs, but he did labor in the fields of California with his eldest brother; Antonio worked …

Interview With Leon Billings By Brien Williams, Leon G. Billings

George J. Mitchell Oral History Project

Biographical Note
Leon Billings was born in Helena, Montana, on November 19, 1937. His parents, Harry and Gretchen Billings, were progressive journalists. He was graduated from high school in Helena, Montana, in 1955 and then attended Reed College for one year in Portland, Oregon. He completed his undergraduate studies and took graduate courses toward an M.A. at the University of Montana. Billings worked as a reporter and organizer for farm groups in Montana and California. He met his first wife, Pat, in California; they married in Montana and moved to Washington, D.C., on January 4, 1963. While in Washington, Billings …

Interview No. 1404, Manuel Aparicio

Combined Interviews

Mr. Aparicio talks about lending a man money to enlist in the bracero program; when he went looking for him to collect, he saw a number of his friends, and they ultimately convinced him to join the program; he began the process during the 1950s in Zacatecas, México, where he was medically examined before being sent to Irapuato, México, where he underwent more extensive exams; as a bracero, he labored in the fields of California, Idaho, Texas and Wyoming, picking asparagus, beets, cotton, lemons, oranges, peaches, pears, potatoes, strawberries and tomatoes; he goes on to detail the various worksites, camp …

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. 1415, Daniel Molina

Combined Interviews

Mr. Molina briefly talks about his family; in 1959, he decided to enlist in the bracero program, and he began the contracting process in Empalme, Sonora, México; he details the entire contracting process he underwent in México and the United States; moreover, he explains having to go to Mexicali, Baja California, México to get papers as a specialized worker and then returning to Empalme to finally obtain a contract; he was transported by train with roughly fifteen thousand other men in seventy-five box cars; they traveled for two days in extremely hot weather, and their water ran out after only …

Interview No. 1407, Roberto Martínez Cordero

Combined Interviews

Mr. Martínez talks about working for a company that processed tobacco prior to deciding to enlist in the bracero program; in 1959, when he was nineteen years old, he traveled to Tijuana, Baja California, México, where his sister lived, to begin the process by getting on the list of available workers; from there he went to Empalme, Sonora, México, where he was quickly examined and then transported by train to Mexicali, Baja California, México; while there, he underwent more extensive exams before arriving at the work camp in Arizona; as a bracero, he labored in the fields of Arizona and …

Interview No. 1406, María Carrillo

Combined Interviews

María Carrillo was born May 11, 1919, in New Mexico, but she was raised in Zacatecas México; she had seven siblings, two of whom were also born in the United States; her father was an agricultural worker; she grew up at the time of the Cristero War, and as a result, she was never formally educated; when she was twenty-two years old, she married; her husband served in the bracero program for a short time; she later immigrated to the United States and was eventually able to arrange legal status for her entire family.

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 With Tom Bertocci By Mike Hastings, Thomas 'Tom' A. Bertocci

George J. Mitchell Oral History Project

Biographical Note
Tom Bertocci was born in Lewiston, Maine, on February 17, 1945. His father was Salvatore Theodore “Ted” Bertocci, the son of Italian immigrants who came to the United States in 1912. Two of Tom’s uncles became professors at Bates College, where they met Ed Muskie. Tom’s father worked at Bath Iron Works, and met Tom’s mother, Margaret True Allen of Auburn, Maine, through his brothers. Tom was graduated from Morse High School and Wesleyan University. He became involved with the Chewonki Foundation during his college years, when he worked there as a camp counselor. He taught history at …

Interview With Jeanne Hollingsworth By Mike Hastings, Jeanne Hollingsworth

George J. Mitchell Oral History Project

Biographical Note
Jeanne Hollingsworth was born in McCook, Nebraska, on September 18, 1948, to Barbara (Davis) and John Robert Hollingsworth. She spent her early years in Holbrook, Nebraska, on her father’s cattle ranch with five siblings. The family moved to Kearney, Nebraska, when she was twelve, and from there they moved to Kitchener-Waterloo, Canada, where Jeanne attended high school and her father was in the furniture business. She attended North Georgia Military College for two years and became interested in politics because of the Vietnam War and the peace movement. She traveled for some years between Maine and Georgia, finally …

Interview No. 1598, Felipe Pavon Munoz

Combined Interviews

In 1942 he saw a newspaper announcing the hiring of Mexican men, he explains in detail the negotiations that occurred between the United States and Mexico; he recalls braceros arriving to the national stadium in Mexico City; in 1944 he registered as a bracero; he details his physical examination, explaining that it consisted of a rectal exam, lice check, fumigation, a shower, blood work, and a detail inspection of their entire naked body; he remembers that once in the United States braceros were lined up and distributed out without knowledge of where they were going; he describes living in a …

Interview No. 1405, Enrique Arellano

Combined Interviews

Mr. Arellano talks about his family, including his parents, siblings and children; roughly two hundred men registered to enlist in the bracero program from his hometown, but only fifty were chosen; he chronicles the requirements for the contracting process, which he went through in Empalme, Sonora, México; from there, he was transported by train to Mexicali, Baja California, México, where he was stripped, examined and deloused; as a bracero, he labored in the fields of Salinas, California, cutting, picking and packing carrots, celery and lettuce; he goes on to detail housing, living conditions, accommodations, provisions, duties, routines, treatment, deductions, remittances, …

Interview No. 1413, Juan Lupian

Combined Interviews

Mr. Lupian explains that people would pass through different towns in order to sign people up for the bracero program; during the late 1940s, when he was nineteen years old, he decided to join the program; he traveled to Empalme, Sonora, México to pick cotton and obtain the necessary papers to enlist; in addition, he also went through centers in Guadalajara, Jalisco and Hermosillo, Sonora, México; from the center in Empalme he was transported to Mexicali, Baja California, México by train, and then from there to Calexico, California by bus; he continued working with the program for several years cleaning, …

Interview No. 1403, Encarnación Alamillo

Combined Interviews

Mr. Alamillo talks about his decision to enlist in the bracero program in 1958, because the season’s crops were lost due to a drought; in order to get on the list of available workers, he had to pay, but luckily he knew one of the people in charge, which helped; he went through the contracting center in Empalme, Sonora, Mexico, with nine other men from his hometown; they were briefly examined, and he was called rather quickly, whereas others waited for up to one month; he was transported by cargo train to Mexicali, Baja California, México; although his initial contract …

Interview With James Leary, October 18, 2008, James Leary, Sierra R. Green

Oral Histories

James Leary was interviewed on October 18, 2008, by Sierra Green about his experiences during World War II.

Course Information:

• Course Title: HIST 300: Historical Method
• Academic Term: Fall 2008
• Course Instructor: Dr. Michael J. Birkner '72

Collection Note: This oral history was selected from the Oral History Collection maintained by Special Collections & College Archives. Transcripts are available for browsing in the Special Collections Reading Room, 4^th floor, Musselman Library. GettDigital contains the complete listing of oral histories done from 1978 to the present. To view this list and to access selected digital versions please visit -- https://gettysburg.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16274coll2/search

Interview No. 1408, Celedonia Corral

Combined Interviews

Mrs. Corral talks about her family and growing up in México; she also discusses her husband, Erasmo Corral and how they married in 1941, when she was only eighteen years old; he enlisted in the bracero program and completed two contracts; she lived with her mother-in-law at the time; he picked cotton for roughly six months; it was hard for her and the children when he was gone, and they suffered greatly; he sent what little money he could, but he did not earn very much; she made clothes, paintings, candy or whatever she could sell to help supplement their …

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 …