Interviewer

Verónica Cortés

Project

Bracero Oral History

Biographical Synopsis of Interviewee

Virginia Solorzano Sanchez was born March 26, 1950, in Tala, Jalisco, México; she was raised in Tamazula [de Gordiano], Jalisco, with her three siblings; her formal education extended through the third grade before it became too expensive for her to continue; when she was a young girl, her father enlisted in the bracero program; later, both her mother and father came to work in the United States; Virginia later married and had two children; she eventually immigrated to the United States with her family.

Summary of Interview

Ms. Solorzano briefly talks about her family and hometown; her father decided to enlist in the bracero program in order to make enough money to support the family; while he was gone, her family lived with her relatives on her father’s side and later with her mother’s family; when she was roughly eight years old, her mother left with her father to work in the United States; they regularly sent money for food, clothes and school, and they visited every year or two; Virginia also remembers being jealous whenever she saw other children with their parents; she regretted that they left her in México, because she was so lonely and missed them terribly; as she grew older her father told her stories about how difficult it was for him to cross into the United States; although he worked from sunup to sundown, he never really earned very much money; he was even a foreman in one of the fields where he worked; after she had her own children, she began to understand why her parents had to leave; even so, she does not think they made the best decision by leaving her in México, because it was too hard for her to grow up without her parents.

Date of Interview

5-23-2006

Length of Interview

16 minutes

Tape Number

No. 1250

Transcript Number

No. 1250

Length of Transcript

10 pages

Transcriber

Alejandra Díaz

Interview Number

No. 1250

Terms of Use

Unrestricted

Comments

Interview in Spanish.

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