Interviewer

Fernanda Carrillo

Project

Bracero Oral History Project

Summary of Interview

Minerva C. Cheatum was born in El Paso, Texas; shortly after she was born her mother died, and she was consequently raised by her maternal grandparents in Clint, Texas; while still attending high school, she began working as a clerk and typist at Rio Vista, a bracero processing center in Socorro, Texas; she started in August of 1957 and continued working there seasonally until 1962. Ms. Cheatum tells how she came to live with her maternal grandparents shortly after her mother’s passing; she continued to live with them even after her father remarried and moved to California; her grandfather had a farm, and he often hired braceros to help him with the land; in August of 1957, when she was eighteen years old, she began working as a clerk and typist at Rio Vista, a bracero processing center in Socorro, Texas; she provides a detailed description of the facilities in general, the screening process, how the paperwork was filled out, and how the braceros reacted and what they said; there was a particular form, called a 345, which was essential to the entire process for the braceros; they were given the form at the processing center in Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Mexico, and it was required as a form of identification upon entering the United States; sometimes college students and professional writers would pose as braceros in order to later write about their experiences; she also relays several interesting anecdotes.

Date of Interview

4-3-2003

Length of Interview

58 minutes

Tape Number

No. 1554

Transcript Number

No. 1554

Length of Transcript

28 pages

Transcriber

Vanessa Macias

Interview Number

No. 1554

Terms of Use

Unrestricted

Comments

Transcript is a Draft copy

Included in

Oral History Commons

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