Roberto Orduño García

Biographical Synopsis of Interviewee: Roberto Orduño García was born in Cusihuiriachi, Chihuahua, México, in 1931; he had fifteen siblings, and his father worked in the mines; he was formally schooled for four years; when he was fourteen years old, he began working by selling newspapers and magazines, shining shoes, and selling tacos to eat; he heard of the bracero program through an advertisement on the radio; he worked in Tularosa, New Mexico, for two years.

Summary of Interview: Mr. Orduño was hired as a bracero in 1956; in order to be hired, he lied about his working experience in the cotton fields; the rancher who hired him noticed that he did not have any experience working in the fields; instead he was put to weigh the cotton that each bracero picked; in 1958, he came back home to Cusihuiriachi, Chihuahua, México, because his father was very ill; he recalls how the ranchers would freely lend and borrow the braceros to each other depending on the amount of work to be done; during their free time, he and other braceros liked to play baseball, listen to the radio, or go to a bar where they used to get together with the Mescalero Indians.

Parra-Mantilla, Myrna

Orduño García, Roberto

2003-05-10

Parra-Mantilla, Myrna, "Roberto Orduño García." Bracero History Archive, Item #29 (accessed January 07 2009, 4:07 pm)