Asterio López León

Title

Asterio López León

Description

Biographical Synopsis of Interviewee: Asterio López León was born on October 27, 1927, in Palmar de Sepúlvedas, Sinaloa, México; he is the oldest of eleven siblings; his parents worked in agriculture, and he began working with them from an early age; he completed formal schooling until the third grade; in 1950, he joined the bracero program, and worked as a bracero on and off until 1962; he worked in California picking cotton, grapefruit, and oranges.


Summary of Interview: Mr. López León remembers growing up in Palmar de Sepúlvedas, Sinaloa, México; he discusses how he started working in agriculture at an early age, and how he was able to get formal school until the third grade; furthermore, he recalls how he heard about the bracero program, how he got his first contract after being an undocumented worker in Blythe, California, and how his boss there helped him acquire the contract; he explains how contracting occurred in Empalme, Sonora, México, how potential braceros waited sometimes for months to get contracted, and how he paid coyotes to get on the list for contracts; additionally, he states what the trip to the border was like, how the processing center in El Centro, California worked, and the medical exams he went through; he recounts that he was able to avoid fumigation by stating to the person conducting it that he did not want to get his suit dirty and that he would just leave; he states that the fumigator let him through without fumigating; in 1950, he joined the bracero program, and worked as a bracero on and off until 1962; he worked in California picking cotton, grapefruit, and oranges; moreover, he relates what daily life was like on the farms, the treatment he received from foremen, and the work he did.

Creator

Mena, Violeta
López León, Asterio

Date

2006-05-22

Subject

Bracero

Contributor

Cristóbal Borges

Rights

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

Language

spa

title (Spanish)

Asterio López León

creator (Spanish)

Mena, Violeta

contributor (Spanish)

Cristóbal A. Borges

Rights Holder

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

Original Format

Mini disc

Duration

1:08:00

Bit Rate/Frequency

24 bit
96k

Interviewer

Mena, Violeta

Interviewee

López León, Asterio

Location

Blythe, CA

File Name Identifier

Lopez_Leon_BLY012

Citation

Mena, Violeta and López León, Asterio, “Asterio López León,” Bracero History Archive, accessed November 13, 2024, https://braceroarchive.org/es/items/show/294.