Fernando Gámez García

Title

Fernando Gámez García

Description

Biographical Synopsis of Interviewee: Fernando Gamez García was born on June 24, 1945, in Hierbabuena, Michoacán, México; he was the oldest boy of three, and also had four sisters; he went to school up to the fifth grade then started working; his father was a bracero who worked in the program on and off from 1943 to 1964; in 1964, his father got him legal papers to cross to the United States, and joined him in Oceanside, California.


Summary of Interview: Mr. Gamez Garcia remembers growing up in Hierbabuena, Michoacán, México, and going to school up to the fifth grade; he states that his father joined the bracero program in 1943, and worked as a bracero on and off until 1964; furthermore, he recounts his father’s memories of the process of becoming a bracero, his contracting, the treatment they received while crossing into the United States, how braceros were fumigated, and the treatment they received from foremen; he describes what life was like while his father was gone, the hardships his mother went through, and how he missed and worried for his father, especially when he had to cross into the U.S. as an undocumented worker; he explains that the first time his father got contracted he did it in Mexico City, México, and that people from Michoacan were given preference because a volcano had erupted in the state; moreover, he relates that his father got him and the rest of his family papers to cross into the United States in 1964, and that they joined him in Oceanside, California; he concludes by stating that his father felt content that he was able to help his family by joining the bracero program, but that he had to suffer much hardship.

Creator

Carrillo, Alma
Gámez García, Fernando

Date

2006-05-22

Subject

Son of a Bracero

Contributor

Cristóbal Borges

Rights

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

Language

spa

title (Spanish)

Fernando Gámez García

creator (Spanish)

Carrillo, Alma

contributor (Spanish)

Cristóbal A. Borges

Rights Holder

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

Original Format

Mini disc

Duration

50:56

Bit Rate/Frequency

24 bit
96 k

Interviewer

Carrillo, Alma

Interviewee

Gámez García, Fernando

Location

Blythe, CA

File Name Identifier

Gamez_Garcia_BLY008

Citation

Carrillo, Alma and Gámez García, Fernando, “Fernando Gámez García,” Bracero History Archive, accessed November 25, 2024, https://braceroarchive.org/es/items/show/289.