Biographical Synopsis of Interviewee: Josefina Fajardo was born on October 3, 1936, in Juchipila, Zacatecas, México; she has an older brother and a younger sister; her father was never very involved in her life, and she was consequently raised by…
Roberto Silva Marín was born June 6, 1938, in Calvillo, Aguascalientes, México; he had six sisters and five brothers; his father was a campesino; the family moved to Jalpa, Zacatecas, México when he was eight years old; as a young boy, he helped his…
Isaura Covarrubias was the third born of her fourteen siblings; she grew up with ten sisters and two brothers, because two of her siblings, twins, died when they were young; her father worked in agriculture, but it was not enough to support the…
Alejo López Silva was born July 17, 1933, on a ranch in Calvillo, Aguascalientes, México; he was the fourth born of his ten siblings; his formal education extended through the third grade; as a young boy, he worked in the fields; when he was thirteen…
Margarita López was born April 15, 1934, in Calvillo, Aguascalientes, México; her parents were laborers, and she had six siblings; she was formally educated through the sixth grade; later, in 1950, she married Higinio López; she was fifteen years old…
Ismael Rodríguez Rico is the eldest of his three brothers; when he was six years old, his father died; afterward, he and his brothers worked wherever they could; eventually, Ismael enlisted in the bracero program; as a bracero, he labored in the…
José Álvarez Munguía was born December 5, 1946, in Jamay, Jalisco, México; he had seven siblings; his father was a bracero, and he completed roughly five contracts; José was formally educated through the fourth grade; he also worked in the fields;…
Arturo Berumen was born in 1962, in Zacatecas, México; he was the third born of his twelve siblings; his father, who was also named Arturo, was born in 1933; during the early 1950s, he enlisted in the bracero program; as a bracero, he labored in the…
Elsa Murillo Rodríguez was born September 10, 1954, in Zacatecas, México; she had six siblings, four of whom are still living; her father was a bracero until the early 1960s; he labored in the fields of Texas picking apples and oranges; several of…
Luis Estrada E. was born in 1953; he was the third born of his seven siblings; the year after he was born, his father, Miguel, enlisted in the bracero program; while he was gone, the family stayed in Michoacán, México; years later, Luis married and…
Juan Guerrero Nava was born on an hacienda in the municipality of Tocumbo, Michoacán, México; he had three sisters and three brothers; he was never formally educated; during the late 1950s, he enlisted in the bracero program; as a bracero, he labored…
Jesús Gómez grew up on a ranch near Guadalajara, Jalisco, México; when he was sixteen years old, he came to the United States without documents and worked in Texas for a year and a half; during the early 1950s, he returned to the United States with…
Pedro de Alba González was born June 7, 1935, in Atotonilquillo, Jalisco, México, but he was raised in Acatlán de Juárez, Jalisco; his parents were campesinos, and he had two brothers and one half brother; Pedro was formally educated through the…
Juan Contreras was born in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, México; his father was in the military, and the family consequently moved around a lot; Juan later enlisted in the bracero program; as a bracero, he labored in the fields of Arizona, Idaho,…
Tarsicio Ortíz was born October 21, 1951, in Michoacán, México; his father was born in 1915, and he labored in the fields as a campesino; during the 1940s, before he married, he enlisted in the bracero program; he continued working as a bracero until…
Luz María Ayala was born in 1943, in [Michoacán] México; she had seventeen siblings, but nine of them passed away; her father was a bracero; he was never formally educated, and consequently, he did not know how to read or write; prior to enlisting in…
Ignacio I. Álvarez was born February 10, 1933, in Guerrero, México; his parents worked in agriculture, and he had six sisters and three brothers; he was formally educated through the second grade; his family was poor, and consequently, he had to…
