Interviewer
Myrna Parra-Mantilla
Project
Bracero Oral History
Biographical Synopsis of Interviewee
Jesús Aranda Morales was born in Gran Morelos, Chihuahua, México, in 1936; he started working when he was only nine years old; years later, in 1957, at the age of twenty, he came to the United States; he worked in the cotton and cucumber fields of Texas and New Mexico and the beet fields of Nebraska and Montana.
Summary of Interview
Mr. Morales traveled to Chihuahua, Chihuahua, México, in order to begin the hiring process for the Bracero Program; the only requirement was a Mexican Military ID card; he waited at El Trocadero, a processing center there in Chihuahua, for eight days to be hired; from there he was taken to Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, where he had to pay $1.00 in order to get a place where he could spend the night; he was then sent to Rio Vista, a processing center in Socorro, Texas; he was then finally taken to Dell City, Texas, where there was a kind of Bracero Association; the ranchers would meet there to hire the braceros; he recalls that he and other braceros would use sign language to communicate with the ranchers; during their free time, they would pay 50¢ to see a movie.
Date of Interview
3-30-2003
Length of Interview
40 minutes
Listen to the Interview
Tape Number
No. 961
Transcript Number
No. 961
Length of Transcript
27 pages
Transcriber
Ana Carrillo
Interview Number
No. 961
Terms of Use
Unrestricted
Recommended Citation
Interview with Jesús Aranda Morales by Myrna Parra-Mantilla, 2003, "Interview no. 961," Institute of Oral History, University of Texas at El Paso.
Comments
Interview in Spanish.