Sebastián Martínez

Sebastián Martínez

Biographical Synopsis of Interviewee: Sebastián Martínez was born on November 16, 1938, in Saragosa, Texas; as a child he and his family moved to Pecos, Texas; during the fifties, when he was roughly fourteen or fifteen years old, he began working with his father alongside braceros, chopping cotton and other such field duties; after graduating from high school, he went on to receive a bachelor’s degree from Sul Ross State University and a master’s degree from the University of Texas at El Paso.

Summary of Interview: Mr. Martínez briefly discusses his family; when he was roughly fourteen or fifteen years old, he began working with his father alongside braceros, chopping cotton and other such field duties; he goes on to discuss his experiences working with braceros, and he gives an account of their living and working conditions, provisions, recreational activities, religion, and their general dispositions; in addition, he explains the relationships between the braceros and the surrounding community in Pecos, Texas, which was largely segregated; several of his female relatives, however, did have romantic relationships with braceros; he also speaks about the children of braceros going to school in Pecos and the subsequent process of assimilation; after graduating from high school, Sebastián went on to receive a bachelor’s degree from Sul Ross State University and a master’s degree from the University of Texas at El Paso.

Ley-Alarcón, Karim

Martínez, Sebastián

2005-11-12

Working with his father alongside braceros

Cristóbal Borges

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

eng

Sebastián Martínez

Alacon, Karim-Ley

Cristóbal A. Borges

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

Mini Disc

40:24

24 bit
96 k

Ley-Alarcón, Karim

Martínez, Sebastián

El Paso, Texas

[Min 0:00-4:19; Introduction and Schooling] Sebastián Martínez was born on November 16, 1938 in Saragosa, Texas. His father worked briefly on the railroad before moving to Pecos in 1943 where he worked at a car dealership. His father also kept animals at a farm connected to the car dealership. He had a cow and chickens. Sebastián graduated from high school in 1958 and recalls that Pecos was racist in the 1950s. He then graduated from Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas with a Bachelors of Science in Education, taught for a few years, and then graduated from the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) in 1971 with a Masters of Analysis of English to Spanish and Spanish to English. Sebastián taught for thirty years, has been involved in politics, and is interested in history. He currently splits his time between his two residences in Pecos and El Paso, Texas.

[Mins 4:20-6:59; Memories of Braceros and Segregation] Sebastián and his father worked alongside Braceros in the 1950s, chopping cotton among other things. He states that the Braceros were happy and liked to joke around. He also remarks that when the Braceros went into the city of Pecos, they were “herded” to the east side of Pecos with the other “Mexicans” [Mexicans and Mexican-Americans]. The west side of Pecos was where the “Anglo” [white] population resided. Sebastián states that the Braceros were “badly mistreated” but says that the Braceros stayed in the United States for the opportunity to make money and send it back home.

[Mins 7:00-10:09; Living Conditions] There was no processing center in Pecos. Sebastián relates that some growers would buy barracks from the United States Army in which the Braceros would live. He describes the barracks, saying that the Braceros’ living conditions were “rough” from an outside perspective, but that some of the Braceros seemed satisfied with the conditions because they were provided with running water, an out-house, and cooking facilities. The growers kept the housing facilities clean. The number of Braceros in each facility ranged from ten to forty. The Braceros would ride in a bus or truck to work.

[Mins 10:10-13:48; Working Conditions] Sebastián does not recall that the growers would ever check documentation. He states that the growers were not concerned with documentation. He also does not recall that any immigration officials ever harassed the Braceros for documentation. Sebastián was about fifteen at the time that he worked with the Braceros and calls himself “streetwise” because as one of ten children he had been working since he was eleven years old. Sebastián was paid fifty cents an hour and guesses that the Braceros were paid about four to five dollars a day. The field boss would usually be a local Mexican-American. Work would be divided according to need and experience. Sebastián recalls that everything was run efficiently. The Braceros would work six days a week and some would volunteer to work Sundays.

[Mins 13:49-15:45; Recreation] Sebastián states that most Braceros went to bars and brothels on Saturday nights. He describes the east side of Pecos as a “red light district” on the weekends. He states that on weekends the population of Pecos would swell from 10,000 to 50,000 people as the Braceros would fill the “cantinas” [bars]. He describes how many women would “service the men” [prostitution], becoming rich in the process.

[Mins 15:46-18:21; Food] Some growers would form co-op stores from which the Braceros would purchase food. Payment was made in cash or arranged through each grower. Some Braceros bought food from Safeway but all labels were in English. Sebastián recalls that dog food made with real beef and horse meat was very popular among the Braceros until they were informed that it was dog food. Sebastián relates how the local Mexican-Americans would take business away from the co-ops and Safeway by bussing the Braceros from the worksite to their own grocery stores.

[Mins 18:22-21:04; Recreation Continued and Segregation Continued] Braceros used irrigation ditches to bathe and swim in. Sebastián explains that they were filled with clean water. The movie theaters in Pecos showed Mexican films and were filled with Braceros every Saturday and Sunday. The theater owners were Mexican-American, as the “Anglo” [white] theaters would show American movies. The Mexican-Americans in Pecos were segregated on their own side of town but held jobs and shopped for clothing on the “Anglo” [white] side of town. Sebastián explains that after the Braceros arrived, Mexican-Americans started opening up their own shops on the Mexican-American side of town, so the Mexican-American community began shopping on the Mexican-American side of town.

[Mins 21:05-23:46; Community Relations] Sebastián explains that Pecos resented the Braceros but that the business community knew that they were necessary. The Mexican-American community in Pecos resented the Braceros because they disrupted the “social life,” filling the dance halls. Sebastián does not recall any violence resulting from this resentment but remarks that words were exchanged. Sebastián recalls that there was a lot of inter-marriage between local Mexican-American women and Braceros. The Braceros that married locally remained in Pecos and were not bothered by local law enforcement. Sebastián has many female relatives, including an aunt, two cousins, and his maternal grandmother, that had romantic relationships with Braceros.

[Mins 23:47-24:57; Large Pecos Farms and Newspaper Articles] Sebastián recalls that the large farms in Pecos belonged to the Mattox’s, the Armstrong’s, the Dingler’s and the Ivey’s. He believes that some Ivey’s moved to El Paso. Sebastián recommends that articles from The Pecos Enterprise be researched as he remembers that articles relating to the Braceros appeared in that newspaper.

[Mins 24:58-26:48; Schooling] Sebastián recalls living “two lives,” one at school where he learned to speak English with a southern accent, and one outside of school. He states that some of the Braceros’ children went to school with the “Anglos” [white] and became acculturated very quickly. Eventually, the school board built more classrooms in the Mexican-American side of town and the Braceros’ children attended school on the Mexican-American side of town.

[Mins 26:49-29:32; Community Relations Continued] Sebastián repeats that he does not recall any violence. He describes the Braceros as happy and easy-going. He also states that on the weekends, the “Anglo” [white] population would not go into town. Rather, the white population would gather in homes or private clubs.

[Mins 29:33-31:41; Religion] St. Catherine’s Catholic Church catered to the “Anglo” [white] community while Santa Rosa de Lima catered to the “Mexican” [Mexican and Mexican-American] community. Sebastián does not remember many Braceros attending church. Rather, he recalls the evangelical church proselytizing at the farms where the Braceros worked. He recalls an article in Time Magazine about a Catholic priest’s thoughts on this issue. Most growers were Protestant. Sebastián recalls a very small “Anglo” [white] Catholic community in Pecos. He does not recall the Braceros participating in religious holidays.

[Mins 31:42-33:43; Understanding of the Term Bracero] Sebastián does not recall any public protests against the Braceros. He understands the term Bracero as originating from the word brasa [ember] connoting individuals who used embers from coal to heat their homes.

[Mins 33:44-36:32; Community Relations Continued] Sebastián describes his memories of Braceros as positive. He would socialize with the Braceros after work. Sebastián states that most Braceros did not know what becoming a Bracero would entail. Rather, they only knew that they were supposed to work. After arriving in Pecos, Sebastián explains that many found it to be similar to what they had known and found ways to stay in Pecos. Sebastián does not recall ever hearing that a grower was eager to send a Bracero back to México. He repeats that no one ever thought of Braceros as “illegal,” even after their term was through.

[Mins 36:33-End; Final Thoughts] Sebastián believes that the “territory” [the portion of the United States which once belonged to México] is peacefully becoming mestizo again through intermarriage, etc. He speaks briefly about the Iraq war. Sebastián states that it is logistically impossible for the United States to bring temporary workers into the country and ship all of them back at the end of their term. He speaks briefly about his grandfather who was a mule trader from México who would make trades in Fort Davis, Texas.

Martinez_NMAH007