Interviewer
Jason Afable
Project
Bracero Oral History
Biographical Synopsis of Interviewee
Celedonia Corral was born March 3, 1923, in Los Angeles, California; she had one brother and one sister; her father moved the family to Durango, México; shortly thereafter, when she was only four years old, he died; she was formally educated through the fifth grade; in 1941, when she was eighteen years old, she married her husband, Erasmo Corral, who was twenty-seven at the time; he served in the bracero program and completed two contracts; she returned to the United States with her husband and five children when she was twenty-nine years old; she was able to arrange legal status for all of them; she and Erasmo went on to have five more children, eight boys and two girls in total.
Summary of Interview
Mrs. Corral talks about her family and growing up in México; she also discusses her husband, Erasmo Corral and how they married in 1941, when she was only eighteen years old; he enlisted in the bracero program and completed two contracts; she lived with her mother-in-law at the time; he picked cotton for roughly six months; it was hard for her and the children when he was gone, and they suffered greatly; he sent what little money he could, but he did not earn very much; she made clothes, paintings, candy or whatever she could sell to help supplement their income; they also communicated through letters; she spoke with other bracero wives, oftentimes when they went out to wash clothes; when his contract ended, he returned to México and continued working in the fields and caring for animals; she returned to the United States with her husband and five children when she was twenty-nine years old; she was able to arrange legal status for all of them; she and Erasmo went on to have five more children, eight boys and two girls in total.
Date of Interview
10-17-2008
Length of Interview
25 minutes
Listen to the Interview
Tape Number
No. 1408
Transcript Number
No. 1408
Length of Transcript
19 pages
Transcriber
GMR Transcription Service
Interview Number
No. 1408
Terms of Use
Unrestricted
Recommended Citation
Interview with Celedonia Corral by Jason Afable, 2008, "Interview no. 1408," Institute of Oral History, University of Texas at El Paso.
Comments
Transcript is a Draft copy
Interview is in Spanish