TRANSCRIPTION
What was early childhood like?
It was hard but it was good times. We didn't have the modern conveniences of today but we were one of the lucky ones. We did have a phone and we did have a T.V. which a lot of people in my neighborhood didn't. Ugh... we would go after school and see Popeye, the Lone Ranger and Roy Rogers shows and then have to turn it off and do our homework. As a young girl i was very imaginative. My twin and I would go play and come back telling everyone that Bugs Bunny had invited us into his hole and he would have a little table for us to eat and drink tea or whatever he would give us maybe it was carrot juice we would say I don't remember (laughs) we were very imaginative.
At what age did you start migrant work?
At nine... we went to start the fields we started off in Indiana picking tomatoes. Then migrated Michigan to pick cherries then we migrated back to Indiana to pick Strawberries.
As a young migrant worker was it hard to still work and go to school
Well...actually... it was required for us to go to school but then after school we would go to work on the fields. But it was a must for us to go to school.
How did ya'll get food and clothes.
Well... my mother knew how to sew so she would get material from everywhere, sheets whatever she could find. My father would go into town or the farmer's market and get food for us to eat for the week or however long we would be traveling and while he was there my mother would tell him the places to look for material for our dresses and where to buy the pretty shoes for girls at.
How many members of your family worked on the fields?
There was four... let's see there was my mother, my two brother's and my sister. We were a small family but my uncle had ten children working the fields that was lucky for them. They brought in good money we did to because we were a small family so it was good enough for us.
Was there any illnesses that couldn't be cured that thanks to technology could be cured now?
Oh... yes well... not in my generation but two of ... my uncles did pass away from Tuberculosis. Let's see yes three uncles and one of my cousins passed away from that.
When you weren't working on the fields, what did you and your family do?
OH... we would have a lot of fun. Like on our days off the weekends.. we wouldn't work the fields the weekends so we would go to the lake and we would have a lot of fun, it was a beautiful lake they had there in Michigan and swim. My sister and I had bikes. My dad bought us bikes so it was very, very safe. we would ride all through the town. It was a small town in Indiana call Milford, Indiana on and then Michigan was called Ludington, there we would walk the fields, well... not the fields the orchards the cherries were in bloom it was beautiful and we would just play in the orchards. It was just so safe
How did your family travel from town to town?
uh... my uncle had a big truck because he had so many children, so when we would travel we would just go with him where ever he went.
Did your family ever get their own vehicle?
yeah we did only after we turned five because my father was able to buy one then, then when we were able to work that is when he bought a truck like my uncles even though we didn't need a big one because we only were a family of seven, that's including my parents. I think he bought it because he would always tell us how nice my uncles was.
At what age did your family move down to San Antonio and where did you live?
Well... we were born in Wisconsin. But soon after we were born, four months after, my father said it was to cold for babies to live in the cold because we could catch Pneumonia. We lived on the West Side of San Antonio. where it was warmer but still migrating to the northern states to work the fields.
Once her in San Antonio did you still have to work on the fields, and where did you live?
No, here in San Antonio we didn't we were just city girls. We would go to school and go to dances like normal city girls. We never worked the fields here in San Antonio
Did you graduate high school, if not what did you do instead?
Well... I should of... but I didn't graduate. Well... I was in this program where would go to school and afterward we would go to work the fields. I didn't graduate but I should have. And they told us that to finish our education but I didn't. I just felt the money was so good.
What age did you marry at?
I married at the young age of eight teen. My husband married at twenty. We right away got an apartment and then built the house we live in now and we have been living here for over 40 years now. My husband had a pretty good job and I worked at the Hospital. So between both of us we made pretty good money. We have been married for over forty years now and still so much... well I still love him.
Once here in San Antonio did you ever suffer from racism?
NO... When we would pick and harvest in the Northern states yes but I was young so I didn't know what it was then. My husband did suffer from it when he went to San Angelo. But I never did here in San Antonio.
How did you get your nick name "Rocky"?
It was from my sister-in-law. One day while she was staying here with me because her house was being remodeled. Someone tried breaking into my house and I quickly got a bat that your father bought for his baseball season and chased after the guy down the street he ran so fast and so did I.(laughed)
when I came back in my sister in law Rachel told me that I was crazy but said that I was like Rocky because I was ready to fight.
What was your job at the Hospital?
I work at the Baptist Medical Center Hospital Downtown. I helped the doctors collect all their records and I would also sometimes have to draw blood from the patients. I worked there for twenty two years and then I retired. Now I work as a House Cleaner.
Is there anything in your life that you would do over?
uh... maybe... yeah maybe... I would have finished school. I just married too young. I just wish I would have accomplished school. Which now i feel is so important for my grandchildren to finish.
Is there anything you would like to add?
I would like to say that I'm so proud to be able to see my grandchildren attend college because I was never able to do so.
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Texas Handbook Online
is a multidisciplinary encyclopedia of Texas history, geography, and culture sponsored by the
Texas State Historical Association and the General Libraries at UT-Austin. It was produced
in partnership with the College of Liberal Arts and the General Libraries at the University of
Texas at Austin. Copyright © The Texas State Historical Association.
Milford, Indiana.This is a small town in Indiana and the history of it. Information of how the town started and who founded it.
Sturtevant, Wisconsin. This website was just information of Sturtevant, Wisconsin and what kind of whether, living cost etc... of this city.
Baptist Medical Center where my grandmother worked for twenty two yearsSan Antonio, Texas.
Photographs and/or documents on this website were provided by Rachel Rodriguez Most of these pictures were taken by people in my family and the documents were things my grandmother kept when these events happened.
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