Isidro Herrera Ortega
Title
Isidro Herrera Ortega
Description
Biographical Synopsis of Interviewee: Isidro Herrera Ortega was born in Zacatecas, México, in 1934; he was the oldest of his three siblings; his parents were seasonal agriculturalists, and they planted beans and corn; when he was eight years old, he began helping his parents work the land and care for animals; he was formally educated through the third grade; his father and some of his uncles enlisted in the bracero program, and in 1955, Isidro also joined; as a bracero, he labored in the fields of Arizona and California cleaning, pruning, watering, picking and packing grapes, lettuce and tomatoes.
Summary of Interview: Mr. Herrera talks about his hometown and working in agriculture and with livestock while growing up; he knew about the bracero program when it first started in the early 1940s; a number of men joined and returned, including his father and some of his uncles; Isidro decided to follow in their footsteps and enlisted in 1955 with the hopes of having a better life; to begin the contracting process, he traveled by bus to Irapuato, Guanajuato, México; later, he also went through the center in Empalme, Sonora, México; the center in Irapuato was situated on an old military camp, and it held between thirty and forty thousand people at a time; he also describes the medical exams and required documents; some men were on lists of available workers by municipalities, while others were not and relied solely on the people they knew at the center in order to go through; Isidro waited four months to obtain a contract; from there he was transported by bus to Mexicali, Baja California, México; once he crossed the border, he was examined again; as a bracero, he labored in the fields of Arizona and California cleaning, pruning, watering, picking and packing grapes, lettuce and tomatoes; he also goes on to detail the various worksites, housing, accommodations, living conditions, provisions, duties, routines, treatment, payments, deductions, correspondence and contract lengths and renewals; moreover, he mentions an accident in which a bus crashed and killed roughly fifteen braceros.
Summary of Interview: Mr. Herrera talks about his hometown and working in agriculture and with livestock while growing up; he knew about the bracero program when it first started in the early 1940s; a number of men joined and returned, including his father and some of his uncles; Isidro decided to follow in their footsteps and enlisted in 1955 with the hopes of having a better life; to begin the contracting process, he traveled by bus to Irapuato, Guanajuato, México; later, he also went through the center in Empalme, Sonora, México; the center in Irapuato was situated on an old military camp, and it held between thirty and forty thousand people at a time; he also describes the medical exams and required documents; some men were on lists of available workers by municipalities, while others were not and relied solely on the people they knew at the center in order to go through; Isidro waited four months to obtain a contract; from there he was transported by bus to Mexicali, Baja California, México; once he crossed the border, he was examined again; as a bracero, he labored in the fields of Arizona and California cleaning, pruning, watering, picking and packing grapes, lettuce and tomatoes; he also goes on to detail the various worksites, housing, accommodations, living conditions, provisions, duties, routines, treatment, payments, deductions, correspondence and contract lengths and renewals; moreover, he mentions an accident in which a bus crashed and killed roughly fifteen braceros.
Creator
Díaz, Alejandra
Herrera Ortega, Isidro
Date
2008-01-12
Subject
bracero
Rights
Institute of Oral History, The University of Texas at El Paso
Language
spa
title (Spanish)
Isidro Herrera Ortega
creator (Spanish)
Díaz, Alejandra
Rights Holder
Institute of Oral History, The University of Texas at El Paso
Online Submission
No
Duration
22:49
Bit Rate/Frequency
24 bit
96 k
96 k
Interviewer
Díaz, Alejandra
Interviewee
Isidro Herrera Ortega
Location
Tolleson, Arizona
File Name Identifier
Herrera_Ortega_AZ031
Citation
Díaz, Alejandra and Herrera Ortega, Isidro, “Isidro Herrera Ortega,” Bracero History Archive, accessed May 2, 2024, https://braceroarchive.org/items/show/721.