Eleanor Martin

Title

Eleanor Martin

Description

Biographical Synopsis of Interviewee: Eleanor Martin was born on March 1, 1932, in Colorado City, Texas; her father worked for Southern Pacific Railroad, and as a result, they moved around quite often; she attended Texas Women’s University in Denton, Texas; in order to support herself financially while going to school, she began working at Allison Farms as a payroll bookkeeper for braceros during the cotton season.


Summary of Interview: Ms. Martin briefly recalls how she spent much of her childhood moving around due to her father’s job with Southern Pacific Railroad; after graduating from high school, her parents moved to Tornillo, Texas, and she began going to school at Texas Women’s University in Denton, Texas; in order to support herself financially she moved to Tornillo with her parents and began working as a bookkeeper for Allison farms; she kept the payroll books for the braceros during the cotton season; it was her responsibility to handle all the paperwork and financial figures for the weekly pay of the braceros; she details how they were paid and how and where they worked and lived; in addition, she describes how the cotton was weighed in order to calculate their salaries; because the cotton season lasted from September through January, she was able to go to school during the spring and summer semesters.

Creator

Baquera, Richard
Martin, Eleanor

Date

2003-03-17

Subject

Bookkeeper at Allison Farms

Contributor

Cristóbal Borges

Rights

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

Language

eng

title (Spanish)

Eleanor Martin

creator (Spanish)

Martin, Eleanor

contributor (Spanish)

Cristóbal A. Borges

Rights Holder

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

Original Format

Digital, WAV, MP3

Duration

1:10:00

Interviewer

Baquera, Richard

Interviewee

Martin, Eleanor

Location

El Paso, Texas

File Name Identifier

Martin_ELP031

Citation

Baquera, Richard and Martin, Eleanor, “Eleanor Martin,” Bracero History Archive, accessed November 25, 2024, https://braceroarchive.org/items/show/46.