Browse Items (28 total)

Biographical Synopsis of Interviewee: Víctor Martínez was born on July 28, 1934, in Tlaquiltenango, Morelos, México; as a child, he worked with his family harvesting corn, peanuts, and rice; he stopped attending school at an early age due to the ill…

Biographical Synopsis of Interviewee: Sam Sanchez was born on April 5, 1936, in San Elizario, Texas; he had twelve siblings, and his father was a farmer; upon graduating from high school, he joined the Marine Corps; when he finished his tour of duty…

Biographical Synopsis of Interviewee: Rafael Cortez was born in Techaluta [de Montenegro], Jalisco, México; some of his family members, including uncles and cousins, came to the United States under the bracero program; Rafael longed to come to the…

Biographical Synopsis of Interviewee: Manuela Baquera was born in Tornillo, Texas; she grew up on a ranch near Ysleta, Texas, that dealt primarily in cotton; the ranch often hired braceros to help with the picking and harvesting of the…

Biographical Synopsis of Interviewee: Lily Gutierrez was born in El Paso, Texas, on October 5, 1935; her father was a professional butcher who owned several grocery stores, and her mother was a homemaker; she had four brothers and two sisters; after…

Biographical Synopsis of Interviewee: Laurentina Ramos was born on August 24, 1922, in Rio Grande City, Texas; her parents were migrant workers, and she consequently went to school in Roma, Texas; in 1945, she married Benito Juárez; he owned a ranch…

Biographical Synopsis of Interviewee: Juan Loza was born on October 11, 1939, in Manuel Doblado, Guanajuato, México; he was the eldest of his twelve siblings; in 1960, he joined the bracero program, and he worked in Arkansas, California, Michigan,…

Biographical Synopsis of Interviewee: José Guevara-Rodríguez was born in Cerro Colorado, Guanajuato, México; at an early age, he worked sowing beans and corn to help his family; at the age of eighteen, he traveled to Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua,…

Biographical Synopsis of Interviewee: John L. Agustine was born in El Paso, Texas, on August 29, 1914; his father worked in the mines of Lordsburg, New Mexico; he received a degree in agriculture from New Mexico State University and taught for a…

Biographical Synopsis of Interviewee: Inez Rios was born in El Paso, Texas, on April 20, 1936; she grew up on a farm near Ysleta, Texas, with her eight brothers and sisters; her father was the head foreman on the farm where they lived; braceros were…

Biographical Synopsis of Interviewee: Ignacio Pérez was born in 1924, in Rodeo, Durango, México; he was the oldest of four brothers; an orphan at the age of seven, he grew up with his maternal grandmother; he worked as a shepherd when he was a boy;…

Biographical Synopsis of Interviewee: Gregorio Corrales was born in Mexico City, México; at the age of eight, he began cutting wood and sowing corn with his father; during his teenage years, he worked in construction and in factories; he joined the…

Biographical Synopsis of Interviewee: George H. Veytia was born in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, México, on October 1, 1931; he had two sisters and one brother; when he was only a month old, his family moved to El Paso, Texas, which is where he grew up;…

Biographical Synopsis of Interviewee: Elías Bonilla was born on April 1, 1934, in Tornillo, Texas; his father was originally from Chihuahua, México, and his mother was originally from Coahuila, México; he was the eldest of five children; his father…

Biographical Synopsis of Interviewee: David F. Herrera was born in 1925, and soon after, his family moved to Mesquite, New Mexico; he went through two years of college at New Mexico Statue University, where he focused on civil engineering; shortly…

Biographical Synopsis of Interviewee: Carol Norquest Jr. was born on November 27, 1934, in Edinburg, Texas; her father owned about 100 acres of farm land, and the primary crop was cotton; as a child she helped work the land, and later as an adult,…

Biographical Synopsis of Interviewee: Benito Fierro was born on March 20, 1932, in Julimes, Chihuahua, México; he was the third of nine brothers to be born, and they all learned the agricultural trade from their father; in 1953, he became a bracero;…

Biographical Synopsis of Interviewee: Antonio Chávez was born on January 17, 1928, in Canatlán, Durango, México; he was the youngest of nine siblings; his father died when he was only a year old; when he was eight years old, he began helping his…

Original Caption: Straining under back-breaking weight of cotton, the bracero falters as he waits to get checked off by the foreman. He then unloads the cotton into a nearby trailer. For this he gets 50c an hour.Cotton harvesting in McAllen, Texas…

06. Pictured: Grace Castruita, Isabel Martinez (Alba), Rosie Castruita (Martinez), Christina Martinez (Gonzalez), and Veronica Guadalupe “Lupe” Martinez (Curtis) picking figs in Planada, California, circa 1947. Married names shown in…

05. Pictured (clockwise): Grace Castruita, Isabel Martinez (Alba), Higinio Castruita, Veronica Guadalupe “Lupe” Martinez (Curtis), and Rosie Castruita (Martinez), picking figs in Planada, California, circa 1947. Married names are shown in…

04. Pictured: Christina Martinez (Gonzalez) picking figs in Planada, California, circa 1947. Married names are shown in parenthesis.

The Martinez family lived in Claremont, California. During the 1940s, the children, who were U.S. citizens,…

03. Pictured: Rosa Castruita (Martinez) picking figs in Planada, California, circa 1947. Married names are shown in parenthesis.

The Castruita and Martinez families of Baldwin Park, and Claremont, California picked fruit alongside Braceros both…

CORRECTED TEXT
02. Pictured: Eusevia Martinez (Garcia) and Christina Martinez (Gonzalez) picking figs in Planada, California, circa 1947. Married names are shown in parenthesis.

The Martinez family lived in Claremont, California. During the…