Susan González

Susan González

Biographical Synopsis of Interviewee: Susan Gonzalez was born in Miami, Arizona; at age twelve she moved to Ripley, California to take care of her younger brother while her mother operated the restaurant she owned, “La Flor del Valle”; she worked as a waitress there, and also washed and ironed for local Braceros; at sixteen, she was raped by, became pregnant by, and married a Bracero named Frederico Velez; she helped him immigrate to the United States, was married to him for twenty years, and had six children; in 1957, she bought her mother’s restaurant; she also worked for the Riverside County Health Department as a nurse’s aide for thirty years; Mr. Velez was born in Hermosillo, Mexico, and worked as a Bracero for two years from 1955 to 1957.


Summary of Interview: Ms. Gonzalez discusses the lives of the Braceros in Ripley, California; she recounts what items they bought at the clothing, grocery and hardware stores, the conditions of their barracks, the poor quality food they ate at the camps, and the low wages they received; furthermore, she expresses that the hardest aspect of Braceros’ lives was being unable to see their families; she also mentions that many single Braceros hired prostitutes, and married women from town; she discusses her life after moving to Ripley, California with her mother when she was twelve; she notes her impressions of Braceros from when she was a waitress at her mother’s restaurant, as their laundress, and as a nurses’ aide; moreover, she describes how she met her ex-husband and their marriage; she characterizes him, a Bracero for two years, as abusive but hardworking and a good provider; additionally, she describes the poverty she suffered, as well as the discrimination Mexicans faced, though she does not believe Braceros were mistreated by the Mexican Americans; finally, she states that the Bracero Program enabled the local economy to flourish.

Navarro, Kristine

González, Susan

2006-05-22

Wife of a bracero

Cristóbal Borges

Institute of Oral History, The University of Texas at El Paso

eng

Susan González

Navarro, Kristine

Cristóbal A. Borges

Institute of Oral History, The University of Texas at El Paso

Mini disc

50:00

24 bit
96 k

Navarro, Kristine

González, Susan

Blythe, CA

Gonzalez_BLY011