The Great Depression is one of the darkest times in the history of the United
States. Growing up did you ever see it that way?
No, for me, it was life. I was three years old when the Depression started.
I didn't know anything about life, so I thought that's how it was.
Your family was always moving since you were all working in the fields
(farm laborers). Tell me about your traveling.
Living like "piscadores" we were always moving wherever the
the work would be. We would move from town to town, we would live there, they would
give us a house to use or we would live with all the other workers. We would worked in the
fields and that was all our history. We never had a stable town to live in. Most of the
time we would
travel alone as a family but sometimes, like when we were going to Mississippi, we
went in packs with other families. I have been in almost all the towns
and cities in Texas picking cotton and every year for six years we would move up to
Michigan from November till the winter and then in May picking sugarbeets and
cucumbers in Potterville and Remountville.
You said you traveled in packs with other families, can you explain that a bit more?
They were "piscadores" just like us. We would move where the work was. When we
got to the town they would have ready for us a big lot. There they had restrooms and running
water for us. Everybody would park their trucks and put tarps on top or we would
make little tents and that was our temoprary home. Everyone helped each other. When it was
time for the ladies to start cooking, one of them would start a fire and they would
pass it on, for everyone. Then at nights a lot of the people would get together playing
guitar and singing songs.
Where would your family go to entertain themselves?
My dad had a small radio and for a little while we would all get together
and listen to Spanish western music. It was not on all the time. So we liked it. We had
the commissary too. It was everything. It was a bar, it was a clothing
store, you can buy material, groceries, shoes, tennis, whatever. It was a big store. We
would go in a wagon with a team of donkeys in the front.
How would you get from city to city?
My dad had a truck, it was a Model T. When he left Converse to start moving
around with us, he had that new truck, a Model T, but I don't know the year (model making
of the vehicle) because I was still too small.
What were the hardest times for you as a little girl with not much money?
I remember in Christmas, you know how now we have Christmas trees, lights, and
presents, back then we didn't have none of that. On Christmas Eve I remember we (brothers
and sisters) would put out one of our socks or stocking on the front gate. Back then
we would use real socks, and I remember we would wake up the next day and we were all
sad because we would find them empty. Since we were poor, my dad didn't want to see us
cry, he would would tell us Santa Claus didn't give us anything because we were not
good. I always wished I could have new dresses to wear but I only had a little bit.
I had like four or five but my mom would always wash them so we won't it any run out.
So you probably didn't have a lot of toys, what would you play with?
I had to use what I had. I would play with bottles and old food cans my
mom would give me when she was done cooking. Since I always loved cooking I would go
outside and make a hole and cook something small. Then I invite my brothers
to eat the food I made. The old cans and bottles were my dishes where I would put
the food. I made my own ragdolls too. I would roll up material and put clothes pins
for arms and then I would paint faces on them. Those were my toys. I remember I kept
all these in a shoe box and whenever we were picking our things to move again the shoe
box was the thing I always carried with me. My brothers tambien would make slingshots
out of tubes from old cars.
I know you only went up to third grade but in the time you were there tell me how it
was and your experiences?
It was ugly. They forced us to talk English and there was alot of racism.
I remember one time when me and my sister Magge were in the same class, I needed the
colors, so I called her from across the room "Oye Magge, pasame los colores!" and
then the teacher got mad at me, she said, "Sit down and talk English!" She embarrased me. We were all
separated in blacks, whites, and then us Mexicanos. We were all in different
classrooms. A lot of the whites were really mean. If you would accidentally touch them
they would say "Eww, don't touch me you Mexican grease!" In lunch time the whites
would get to eat inside and we had to stay outside.
But there were some white people muy buenos, they were not all like that. Some of the
white kids would sneak out just to get our tacos. We would take their sandwiches andS
we would give them the tacos my mom made us. We liked the sandwiches since we were
tired of tacos, and they really didn't know what tacos were 'til they tasted them.
They loved tacos.
What grade was this when you took this picture?
I was in the first or second grade. Back then we didn't have Pre-K or Kindergarden,
no, you went straight to the first grade, yeah! I only went to two schools. The first
one was Stefford Elementary and then David Barkley both of these schools still exist
here. I remember this picture only cost .25 cents. The teacher, I remember her name was
Ms. Mclain.
When did things financially get better for your family?
I think that changed with President Roosevelt and Truman. Roosevelt made what
they called the relief. They would give you lots of food, then they would give you an
order so you can go pick up clothes.