Viewfinder; Los Braceros; Rio Vista

When. He had just just to get audio level the sound level tell me how many kids you have 10 how many

grand kids with their names are. I have four children. My oldest Sis bunches Jr. He's 45 before you live in the sort of. But they moved to two between there because she was a girl that she would go with and she wanted to work up there and with her place but she worked the north fellow so my daughter worked in South. Korea. But anyway so there you go. They have an apartment so the start for the first thing I'm going to ask you a question and a story. OK. OK it's Minerva. It's my own. You are the less than with a C H A T. Is that you Mary. That's me. It's my maiden name was one of the it's.

A R D. And I'm like yes. I think this place where we're standing right now is really extraordinary. I didn't realize how big it was and how important it was to the history of the El Paso area and the process. I had graduated from high school in May at 57 and I was going to go on to college. And several circumstances were there. My grandparents wanted to sell their house in the valley to move into a pestle. And I didn't want to do it because they built it. So I did but one of my cousins told me that there are some openings for the contractor. I knew nothing about it. But I said OK. So I came over and applied and I got the job. So I worked here for the first six months that we contracted the rest of the building building. And we

did contracting and type the contracts and then in one of the buildings we had of about 20 girls 20 typewriters and we would they would come in we have typewriters kind of on high and they would come in and we would do the contracts and what we did is they came in with a form. I believe it was 3:45 for two hours and then we would ask them questions the same questions that were on there but for them to fill in the contract we'd ask them you know their name their wife's names and their age and stuff like that. And they we tied the contract and they would send him to the next building where they would separate the contract and file part of it and whatever and we would keep the form. Therefore from. And you spoke to them stand she said yes of course you did it in English because it's in a lot of only Spanish. Then you only Spanish and and a lot of them came from from state and they came from all the states in Mexico. But there was a lot of people the ones that I remember most vividly are the people that came from the state or haka. They

were indigenous people and they were very poor. And they had walked for miles and miles and when they came here they had that time and their feet were bleeding in. Oh it was just awful they had their white clothes and everything and I don't know how long they hadn't eaten because I was typing a contract for one of the gentleman and I was asking him questions. And suddenly. I look down to you know to get that better. What I was typing and I looked up and he was there. As So I looked around and nobody said anything. There was about 200 in the building at that time. And I said where is the gentleman that I was talking to and they said He's right there right in front of you. And I looked over my desk and sure enough he had pressed. You know he had fainted because they were hungry. You know like I said they walked for a long time. I enjoyed it because I got to meet a lot of people from different places and I'm very curious so I asked them all kinds of questions about you know where they came

from and I try to speak Spanish to him whether I pick up their dialect the dialect that they were that they were using. Did you ask them what their hopes and aspirations. Are for the border. No I didn't as they would volunteer you know that. Some of the questions right. Because you know they had so much you know and you just feel like you know they just come here to make a living to get some money you know to take back and a lot of volunteer you know world we're coming to to get my my wife was a sewing machine or stuff like that you know that they want to better themselves for the families and whatever and I remember one gentleman that came through and he surprised me and I asked him questions especially should he spoke English and I looked at him and I said What is that.

He said I'm writing a book. He said and I'm coming through he said with a versatile sees us as the Professor he said but I do speak English so I don't know who he will forget his name. But. You want to see. What the rest of us that go through. Remember book. Never. I never heard from him again but I understand him. You know it's a real book to written what his name is I don't know but some of the books were written about the brothels and what they came through in everything he was a college graduate. And he was Mexican from Mexico he wanted to read what these people went through to get contracted and he worked in the fields he took off and worked in the fields with them with the other person from from here. After that there's a dormitory or something here. And they didn't stay here they came in and they were contracted and they used to go to selection which was this area here. And they would be selected to

association which was here and across the county and then they would go to Holly sugar which was in Colorado and they would go to the Pecos area and there were several other areas that they would go they would be contracted to. But none of them stayed here they would stay here maybe two or three. There are big contracts but they would not be permanently. They would they would say you know like I said just for a period of time the clearinghouse came here people are Simons. They took off. And what was funny was you know in Vegas they pay being in Texas was slow and of course they went to pick cotton and whatever and holy sugar they went to you know get the beets and everything for the holiday and they paid very good. So in order to get him they would say you know how many people are going to want to go to pick us. Well they were all in the camp and they would run away here when they wanted to go to someplace and when they called for a cause nobody would come. You know I mean you could see a couple of them you know just kind of dwindle out here. So the guys that

work for selection the men there were consolations would say how many do we have Colorado. Well they heard Colorado they didn't hear the Pecos and they would all run. That was the only way they could get them to group. But they were going to pick those places. My word for the six month period it was actually six weeks that we worked and I stayed on they asked me to stay on later. That night I was not a part time but they call it in the Department of Labor which is whenever needed. So I stayed. I was one of the lucky ones that got to stay and I stayed there for six months and then they would sell for about a month and then they called me back when they were coming back when the recital back we had to process them again towards going to Mexico. So I came and that I stayed another year. Then I lived here and I went to work someplace else and then I came back after I got married. I came back and I started working for my husband at that time with Sanchez and he used to work in

public health. So he worked one side and I worked in contracting. So often working with him. This was. Four years five years I worked from 1957 to 1964 when they closed when the program was over. So I stayed here I worked at recitation my desktop with him. You know if you want to tell them what somebody is watching that you would like to like about what this man went through a lot through to get there to get you know what what they considered a better life or at least a little extra money to take home.

What I remember is that when they came back when they lived you know they had very little. They. Their clothes were very poor and where they were when they all they all wearing western shirts Levis nice Western has and most of my sewing machines bicycles and everything when we took them back the buses have the sewing machines on top you could see all the little wheels in the machines and the bicycles that were going back to Mexico. And it was it was nice you know to see him get better and to feel said they so it's and their money home. They would not keep it they would just mail their money to their families even though it was for a temporal time. And some contractors came back and then they just came back and they went back and would come back and be contracted again. The money will be contracted for. I don't know it started in the 40s. Bring back in for they go back and then they come back to be corrected. I'm sorry I'm

back to Mexico but then they came and worked and of course a lot of the farmers you know become residents and the kids went to school here brought their families here and. I'm talking from my experience. My grandfather had and his farm. And later he brought his family and his daughters and everything and they still live here in the States. Of course the way that the family lives here. 58 between it's it's very far and he had a mostly for chopping cotton and. We had about. It. Let me get to. Your puzzle. For about a couple of other issues.

My grandfather originally was from Mexico but he came in one thousand fifty two Clint became ill a carpenter you lived in. And you're going to school here in El Paso for a carpentry school. And he went there to and they sent him to Clint and he had to go and come on the train and he was working at a house there and he liked the town so he told my grandmother he said I'd like to move over there. So he after that he worked over here he this family there and bought a little lot and had a tent set up a tent to live in until he built this house and and then build a grocery store and that had a little dairy and then bought the farm and we had the House and the I think because. You know I stayed there with him my mother died when I was a baby so I came to live with him so they had a lot of fun because like I said I knew that that part of it before I started working here so to me when I started working here it was just learning. Where they were coming from and how did they get to. This Far.

It's a personal appreciate beauty as in It's A Small World. Your grandfather comes from Mexico. He starts a farm you worked hard and you are processing working on his farm. Only one right. That's right it was a turn he was from the state of my grandmother was from the State of the jungle and so you know they came the hard way and they had it hard when they came in and then to see these people having it hard. I think I could understand more than some of the other girls that were working here and some of the people that were working here I could understand more of what they had gone through because I had heard it. Well my my time when I was you know growing up so you can you couldn't say oh yeah I need a Kleenex. But hey. It's the Quonset hut. This is where the first after that you would come into the camp and they would come in and they'd have to remove their clothes and they would cover with

just the principal. You have lice. They were they were coming in sometimes you know they would come in from their hometown. So it would take a long time and the people that were not going to take that's the clothes that they had was about to shower clean up and so I probably had a little bit

but the others have. Little. Or whatever. But too much to contract they would come in about six o'clock in the morning. On. The other one you are right. This building right here was public. And this is where they would take the blood. Been the next building with

them. Well it was part of public health first public health through the blood and the next one for the first. But. They had a kind of communicable disease. And then they went on to the next they went on to the next building. They would be there and they would continue on and they would take the building further back. They would take. And they would take their picture. They would come in to transportation which is the next building which is the building up there and then they would go to the next building

contractor one of the builders we would have. The contract. To the building that would fit in there of course the others were in the process. I would maybe say I would. But we would get them there after that. He would go into the next building which was immigration. And there when they finish processing there of course they did the Congress and then we separated in the next building where we would file that we would take therefore the from the property and it would be filed in that building and then they would go to immigration which they would take part of the contract and process it. Whatever they did with it.

And then they would go into transportation when they got to transportation they would get in wherever they were and they would be ready to be loaded on the bus from the different buses where they would they would go to the different camps or whatever for the different you know associations or the different farm or sometimes the farmers would come in and take maybe 10 15 you know with them it was a private farmer but most of the time to be lost to different associations. You know trying to. Kind of pan over Minerva. You know this blank area. OK. OK. You know this is the camp where they would come in and most of them would just sit you know on the sites and sleep at night we see him sleeping. I understand that they had cots in that building in the back or they would sleep. But most of them

decided that they wanted to sleep here on the side by the buildings. And I remember they would be all sitting there. What. When they left when they came here the camp was very quiet. They would sleep and it was very quiet when they came back from going to the farms a big contract of every one of them had a radio. And every one of them had a book Lust. And on a different station so you could imagine what it sounded like we were there you know doing our work and a lot of times we would work late because we would do their forms for what we're doing here the 3:45 we'd stay and I'm here they'd bring him in. And here you are you're hearing all these that are coming back you hear all these radios you know on different stations. I mean it was a blast. I mean it was funny to see all that. But. They enjoyed it and I don't I don't think. I can say that probably. 1 percent of the rest of my radius. But I think of it.

But it was quite a quantity of it and of course like I said you used to see a period during the day they used to walk back and forth and and they used to talk to each other here and there. I'm sure that they got to meet people from the different areas of Mexico the different Moso. Some of them would stay in their little groups you know where they were from and everything else I think they were kind of especially the indigenous people. They were kind of more. Into one place because they spoke a dialect so it was easier for them to get together but I guess as time went by you know they began to. To mingle with the other with the other people. But it was quite a sight to see all these people. I mean you know it's I miss it. To be honest with you I miss it. I would love to bring to work you know if it was that a program was back I wouldn't think about it twice. Coming back to work here it's quite an experience and it's. It's a nice thing and it did help people. To me it helped people to better themselves. And at the same time it helped the farmers with the labor.

And it will help to me in every way around. That you know that's my opinion. We talk about the guest worker program started up again. The number. Yeah the guest worker program. But they will start again. And there's talk of it. When we go over to the building where you actually that we work on this one with contracting and contracting this is where we had all the typewriters and people worked and everything. This is where they did the number 10 and number nine to number eight number 12 at number 10 11 and 12 where the ones that were for contracting. And this is where we had all the typewriters. So here is where we had the records where we beat the contract in. But right here is where we had all the typewriters and everything so they were almost from end to end. So you can see the size of the building and you can see that the typewriters were quite a few there

and they would come in from here. And sometimes they were lined up all the way to the back so you can imagine how many we process. There was about 20 25 I was typing. So. Quite a bit. But. I work for in this building typing and then I worked in this building which is where we did the separation of the contracts and we put everything. I remember I had I had a bill. I guess I had pneumonia and I didn't realize it. And they would come over here I couldn't type because I couldn't ask questions I couldn't talk. And so I was over there and all I was doing was separating the contract and I would just tell them to go with my hand because there was nothing coming up my work was gone completely. But. I don't know. You stand here you know later. Of course this is where they ate that big building over there is where they have been. The kitchen they have the dining area in. And they would all sit down to eat and sometimes they

had a little corner there and sometimes you know we'd get up and have a break at 10 o'clock. And we'd ask the cook to fix us something so we sit there and sometimes they would be on this side and we'd be on a little table there in with the down to eat and we'd have breakfast there. So it was it was quite interesting we. Try to talk to him and try to. You know. Be as nice as we could to them to make him feel that they were not strangers coming into another country they were just people you know coming into work. We didn't you know look at him like oh my God you know you're somebody. They weren't they were just like us that the. People that came into work came into to work in the farms to better their lives. That's the way I saw it. So. You know. I said it it's a nice experience. And I spoke to a gentleman just a few moments ago that he was and he was talking on his site and. I understand that there's the possibility that the

program will come back the program will come back and we're hoping that it does. But for a long time they did not give them the brothels that were here they didn't recompense to what they were supposed to do and I understand that the government Mexican government is giving them their money that they were supposed to have given them money that they put away that so much money went to that account and now they're giving their money back but they need the records and I don't know if there are any records left here because don't have any any records or any. Documents that they need to to claim that. Some unfortunate did not keep records. It's pretty sad. 10 percent. Besides. Part of the 10 Snape to compare to that but that lack of money that was just taking it from their paychecks. You know I'm not familiar with it yet. Something that we put down a little bit of research.

It would come and sleep in the car out here and so we might not you know I could hear Midnight and someone coming and you hear him he said although there was a difference. That. They were so hungry for further abuse of their kind of music that I don't think they could pick up that music really. Where were they were you know and they were so hungry for the their music their hometown usually that they could get stations here the Mexican stations from what is so they would have the radio so they could hear their their music but it was there's not you know that Western music line shot is just one of us buildings. It's. Not. Just one. Or. Two.

Thank. You. Thank.

You. It.

It. That.

It. It's not. Helping.