Amadeo Tapia
Title
Amadeo Tapia
Description
Biographical Synopsis of Interviewee: Amadeo Tapia was born in Sahuaripa, Sonora, México; he is the youngest of eight siblings; his father worked in agriculture, and was also a civil judge; he had formal schooling until the fifth grade; in 1958, he became a bracero, and worked in Arizona and California picking beets, cotton, lemons, lettuce, onions, and tomatoes; he worked as a bracero until 1962; he became a resident of the United States after leaving the program, and became a U.S. citizen in 1991.
Summary of Interview: Mr. Tapia remembers growing up in Sahuaripa, Sonora, México, and his father’s work as a civil judge; he went to school until the fifth grade; in 1958, he joined the bracero program and worked in Arizona and California picking beets, cotton, lemons, lettuce, onions, and tomatoes, until 1962; he recounts how he joined the program in 1958 and 1959 through a government list, and how for the next two contracts he had to pick cotton to acquire them; he describes what the contracting process was like in Empalme, Sonora, México, the medical exams they got, and the embarrassment of having to be nude in front of thousands of people; moreover, he relates the hardship of traveling to the border in freight trains, the process at El Centro, California, the way they were fumigated, and how they were assigned to farms; he explains what his living conditions were, and the food they ate; furthermore, he states how he was paid, the quantity he got, and the difference in pay from state to state; he also describes what they did for entertainment; additionally, he recounts how he became a resident of the U.S. in 1962, and then a citizen in 1991; he remembers his time as a bracero with pride.
Summary of Interview: Mr. Tapia remembers growing up in Sahuaripa, Sonora, México, and his father’s work as a civil judge; he went to school until the fifth grade; in 1958, he joined the bracero program and worked in Arizona and California picking beets, cotton, lemons, lettuce, onions, and tomatoes, until 1962; he recounts how he joined the program in 1958 and 1959 through a government list, and how for the next two contracts he had to pick cotton to acquire them; he describes what the contracting process was like in Empalme, Sonora, México, the medical exams they got, and the embarrassment of having to be nude in front of thousands of people; moreover, he relates the hardship of traveling to the border in freight trains, the process at El Centro, California, the way they were fumigated, and how they were assigned to farms; he explains what his living conditions were, and the food they ate; furthermore, he states how he was paid, the quantity he got, and the difference in pay from state to state; he also describes what they did for entertainment; additionally, he recounts how he became a resident of the U.S. in 1962, and then a citizen in 1991; he remembers his time as a bracero with pride.
Creator
Córtez, Verónica
Tapia, Amadeo
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)
Amadeo Tapia
creator (Spanish)
Cortez, Veronica
contributor (Spanish)
Cristóbal A. Borges
Rights Holder
Institute of Oral History, The University of Texas at El Paso
Original Format
mini disc
Duration
48:00
Bit Rate/Frequency
24 bit
96 k
96 k
Interviewer
Córtez, Veronica
Interviewee
Tapia, Amadeo
Location
Blythe, CA
File Name Identifier
Tapia_BLY017
Citation
Córtez, Verónica and Tapia, Amadeo, “Amadeo Tapia,” Bracero History Archive, accessed November 18, 2024, https://braceroarchive.org/items/show/299.