Biographical Synopsis of Interviewee: John G. Gray was raised in Monette, Arkansas; his father owned a grocery store in town and eventually started farming as well; John later married in 1954 and left home; two years later, his father passed away, and he came back home to help take over the farm; in 1957, he hired braceros to help pick cotton; he also served as a secretary for the local association and helped coordinate which braceros went where. Summary of Interview: Mr. Gray briefly talks about his father who passed away in 1956 and how he went back home afterward to help take over the farm; although his father had mechanical pickers, it was too wet to use them in 1957, and John had to employ the help of braceros; he explains that at the time, farmers were financed through cotton gins, which is how they were able to hire braceros; they were transported to the gins in trailer trucks with open backs, where they all stood to accommodate greater numbers; John spoke a little bit of Spanish and served as a secretary for the local association to help coordinate which braceros went where; he kept groups of braceros together as often as he could; the farmers were responsible for providing housing, bedding, stoves, pots, pans and two burners for every three men; in addition, each bracero was given $5.00 and taken to the store to buy groceries; he also explains that the town of Caraway, Arkansas had a population of one thousand people, and the five thousand men that the bracero program brought provided a huge boost in the economy; most braceros were particularly drawn to buying pocket knives; John relates a humorous incident in which his men tried to cook soybeans to eat, but they became very ill due to the excessive oil; he even tried to take them into town for a drink once, but he lost too many of them in the whore house and decided not to do that again; even so, he remembers thinking of himself as pretty tough, but the braceros even outworked him; until then he had never seen anyone work as hard.
Institute of Oral History, University of Texas at El Paso
The Institute of Oral History, University of Texas at El Paso
Biographical Synopsis of Interviewee: Bernard Lipsey was born in October of 1945; he was born in a hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, but he was raised in Lepanto, Arkansas; his parents opened a grocery store in 1948; during the fifties, eighty percent of their business came from braceros; all the stores in town began expanding so much that by the time the bracero program ended, they had already lost too much money; his parents’ store eventually closed in 1963. Summary of Interview: Mr. Lipsey talks about his parents and what the small town of Lepanto, Arkansas was like while he was growing up; he came from an agricultural community that was predominately white and adhered to segregation practices; in 1948, his parents opened a grocery store; they had an agreement with people bringing braceros into town and would open the store at whatever time the men were transferred; each bracero received $5.00 to buy groceries; sometimes, they would get into small groups of five to make their money stretch further; Bernard’s parents even gave the men sandwiches and a drink to ensure they would keep returning; their supplies were delivered to the camp sites; oftentimes, they went into town on Saturdays, after getting paid; even so, interactions were kept separate, and they only socialized among themselves; in addition, they were only there for three months, and as a result no one knew them; Bernard speculates that some of the men surely disappeared for speaking to the wrong person or saying the wrong thing, and no one ever noticed; even so, during the fifties, eighty percent of their business came from braceros; they inevitably changed the entire economy of the town; store owners became more market conscious and adapted their products to their consumers; they began selling boots, jeans, radios and luggage; Bernard even mentions that part of the family store was converted into a small department store, and they even sold jewelry; all the stores in town began expanding so much that as mechanization took over and the braceros stopped going, they lost too much money; his parents’ store eventually closed in 1963.