Interviewee

Alfredo Angulo Castro

Interviewer

Anaís Acosta

Project

Bracero Oral History

Biographical Synopsis of Interviewee

Mr. Alfredo Angulo C. was born on August 3, 1930, in Mexicali, Mexico; he was raised in Alhuey, Sinaloa; he had thirteen siblings; his mother was a housewife, and his father worked in agriculture; as the eldest son, he began working with his father in the fields and consequently never received any formal schooling; in 1949, he became a bracero and labored in the melon and lettuce fields of Holtville, California.

Summary of Interview

Mr. Alfredo Angulo Castro recalls his childhood and the financial difficulties he and his family endured; he was a racehorse jockey at the age of five; in 1949, at the age of nineteen, he traveled to the United States; his godfather was the foreman for a company in Holtville, California; in order to work for the company, he returned to Mexico and joined the bracero program; he recalls going through the processing center in Mexicali, Mexico; as part of the process, he was medically examined, shaved, and deloused; he worked twelve to twenty-four hour shifts as an irrigator in the melon, lettuce, and alfalfa fields of Holtville, California; he goes on to detail the camp size, living conditions, provisions, duties, payments, deductions, remittances, treatment, friendships, correspondence and recreational act ivies; he and his family lived in Mexicali, Mexico and he would commute to and from work; many braceros went to the movies, drank, attended mass, and congregated at a local park nearly every weekend; he mentions the tension between the braceros from northern Mexico and the braceros from southern Mexico; he also discusses the tension between Mexican American workers and the braceros; in addition, he witnessed several types of unjust treatment at the Saikhon ranch; he mentions that some braceros earned sixty cents a day; undocumented workers made fifty cents a day; he discusses his amicable friendship with his boss, Frank Watt; in 1962, with the help of his boss, he and his family became United States residents; Mr. Alfredo Angulo C. concludes that he is very proud to have worked with the bracero program.

Date of Interview

5-24-2006

Length of Interview

35 minutes

Tape Number

No. 1321

Transcript Number

No. 1321

Length of Transcript

25 pages

Interview Number

No. 1321

Terms of Use

Unrestricted

Comments

Interview in Spanish.

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