Baldemar Mata Flores

San Antonio,Texas

March 14th 2009

Vanessa Flores

Palo Alto College

History 1302 - Spring 2009

INTRODUCTION

TRANSCRIPTION

ANALYSIS

TIMELINE

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INTRODUCTION

Baldemar Mata Flores was born April 12,1930 to Deamantena Mata Perez and Alvaro Flores Zanbrano. He was born at a hospital in Villa Union, Coahuila Mexico. Baldemar was the first born and had three younger brothers one younger sister. He was raised in Villa Union for 12 yrs, later his family had to move out of they're small town to a larger town because the town they lived in didn't have a high school he could attend. The family moved to Sabinas, Coahuila so he could go to high school which was only 3 yrs there he studied his basic courses as well as English and French he later graduated and received his diploma. After high school he attended a vocational one year program for auto mechanics where he received a certificate in Mechanics. He lived in Sabinas but traveled to the near by town of Nueva Rosita Coah. to work as a mechanic. In 1955 when he was 25yrs old he to moved to the United States with a uncle to work he wasn't an American Citizen so in order for him to get permission to live in the United States he had to enlist in the United States Army during the Koren War they gave him 24hrs to enlist which he did but, was never deployed. A close friend from Mexico found him a job at Jordan Ford as a mechanic where he worked. He later moved to San Jose California with a different uncle to experience work there for a couple months, the cost living was high too high so he decided to move back to San Antonio and continued to work at Jordan Ford. He meet Maria Aurora Rodriguez in 1955 she was raised in Mexico as well but was born in San Antonio were she would live back in forth. They later married September 23rd in 1956. Baldemar and Maria lived in San Antonio Texas where they raised a family of six children four boys and two girls. Baldemar later became American Citizen in 1985 at the age of 55. He later retires from Jordan Ford in 1985 after working for 30 years.His wife Maria Flores passes away Feb. 2005 they were married for 49yrs, 7 months away from their 50Th anniversary. He has thirteen grandchildren including me the oldest grandchild also the favorite. Baldemar enjoys fishing and spending time with his brothers and sister back in Mexico where they visit their hometown. On April 12th Baldemar will be celebrating his 79th birthday in San Antonio with his family.

TRANSCRIPTION

What are your earliest childhood memories?
My earliest childhood memories were growing up on my grandfather's ranch i'd always spend my weekends helping him take care of the little goats and cows, there was also a lake on the ranch and i'd go fishing there as a kid.

Would you see yourself living in Mexico today?
No,i've lived here for most of my life so i guess you can say that i'm used to it already,even though Mexico is where i was raised.

What was it like growing up in Mexico back in your time?
I had a lot of good memories growing up in mexico i would help my grandfather out in his ranch, i would ride horses out there, my grandfather would also race horses, my brothers and i would go almost every weekend to the horse tracks with him i enjoyed that as a kid i was probalby around 12 yrs old.

Baldemar Mata Flores & Maria Aurora Rodriguez getting married ,1956, in Villa Union Coahuila

How has Mexico changed since youv'e lived there?
Oh,it's changed a lot its more modern now more technology when i was growing up most families didnt even have a t.v, we had a radio and i would hear the baseball games.My my entertainment as a kid was hearing the New York Yankees play.

How was living in mexico different from living in the United States?
Well, the United States had more opportunities, there was more money to be made too, it was a better living for the people in Mexico.

Did a lot of people during your time want to move to the United States?
Well... yes some people not so much the people who've lived in the area there entire lives, there parents and even grandparents were raised in the same small towns they were raised in, so they didnt find much need to leave, but the younger people who wanted to get out to make money and have more opportunites wanted to leave to the the United States.

Do you think you raising your children in Mexico would have been different from raising them in the U.S why?
Oh yeah it would have been a lot different, from the education they received to the jobs that they have now, the U.S had more opportunities that why i moved out for my family as well as myself.

Some of your siblings decided to stay in Mexico, why?
They went to college in Mexico they had good jobs.My sister was a teacher and my brother was a public accounter, that was just there choice.

How was the cost of living in Mexico different from the U.S?
It was a little cheaper, when i was growing up it was 8 pesos to the dollar now its 14 pesos to the dollar; the dollar value is worth more now but it's even cheaper becuase of the economy today.

What would you see yourself doing if you still lived in Mexico?
Well i was into working with cars so i probalbly would have liked to have my own mechanic shop.

Were there many career options in Mexico while you were living there?
Not to much.. but i had friends in the U.S who were working there and a good friend of mine found me my job at jordan ford.

Grandpa with BaldemarJr. and Raul Flores at San Pedro Park in 1961

Why did you move to the United states?
Well for a better life a job opportunity, iwas working as a mechanic for Jordan Ford. And also my wife was born in San Antonio and lived there most of her life we met in mexico but both wanted the same life in United States.

What did you do for fun as a young boy?
I would love to go to my grandfathers ranch i'd help him take care of the animals and i would also go out fishing, those were my favorite things to do as a young boy.

What jobs were avaliable for young kids in Mexico back then?
Some of my friends would shine shoes on the weekends or help out in the ranches.

What type of job did you have growing up in mexico?
I worked at a coal mine where i earned 1,000 pesos every two weeks, that was a lot of money to be earned at that point. That was about $125.00 dollars then. Which in the year 1949 was equal to 1,111.87 every two weeks i was earning. Cost-of-Living Calculator

Did you become a United States citizen?
yes

What was the first car you purchased in the United States?
It was a 1957 Ford Galaxy 500 it was the First Car i bought from Jordan Ford my first year of working with them they gave me a good deal, i paid $1,500 in 1957 which is equal to 11,300.71 now. Cost-of-Living Calculator

Baldemar Flores on left with Wife on right Maria Flores, and children Raul,Liz,Idialia,Hector and two cousins

Is there anything else you would like to add to this interview?
I would just like to say that im proud to be an American.

ANALYSIS

I learned a lot from the oral history project about my grandfather and the life experiences he had.I got an outlook on why it was important for him to want to move to the U.S and what he had to go through to live here.I now have a better understanding for the people who wanted to move to the United States and the reasons they wanted a different life for themselves. The stories he told me about growing up helped me understand what is was like in his time with what he liked to do for fun, to what he had to do in order to live in the United States. I think the Oral History project is a great way to learn about someones past becuase it gives you there own individual story on what they went through.