1291
Interview in Spanish. Interviewee addressed as Jesus M. Calles.
Summary of Interview
Mr. Calles Quijada talks about his hometown and working in agriculture and with livestock while growing up; he talks about how his father’s land was eventually taken from him; he briefly discusses how he met his wife, Magdalena Vazquez; he remembers the contracting process and describes the medical exams and required documents; he was stripped, examined, and deloused; he describes the process as humiliating, especially for the indigenous that came from the South; Mr. Calles Quijada talks about working ten hours a day cleaning ditches and irrigating the fields in Imperial Valley; Mr. Calles Quijada also labored in the fields of Sacramento; in addition, he describes helping the foreman with the daily paperwork; he also worked in construction; Mr. Calles Quijada goes on to detail the living conditions, provisions, duties, payments, deductions, remittance treatment, friendships and correspondence; Mr. Calles Quijada also talks about how he and two of his brothers were always contracted together; he mentions the ten percent deduction that was taken to be put into the savings fund and that he has yet to see any of the money; after his last contract he was able to emigrate to the United States; his overall memories of the bracero program are positive.