Interviewer
Myrna Parra-Mantilla
Project
Bracero Oral History
Biographical Synopsis of Interviewee
Andrés Héctor Quezada Lara was born in Chihuahua, Chihuahua, México, in 1925; because of his outstanding scholastic abilities, he received a scholarship for secundaria, which is equivalent to middle school in the United States, in Durango; in 1945, he learned of the Bracero Program; it was then that he decided to quit school and go to the United States to work; he worked in South Dakota, Illinois, Montana, Missouri, Minnesota, and Kansas.
Summary of Interview
Mr. Quezada quit school in order to go to the United States and work as a bracero; he was hired in Chihuahua, Chihuahua, México, but was sent to Querétaro, Querétaro to sign the job contract; his first contract took him to work in the Chicago Milwaukee Pacific Union railroads; after working there, he was sent to Kansas to work in the fields; while there, he organized a meeting to ask for better salary for the braceros; their pay was increased from 50¢ to 90¢ per hour; he was then sent to work in Missouri, where he had an accident while working in the cornfields; after the accident, he was moved to the food processing factory; he recalls that while in Montana, it snowed for eight days, and they did not get paid during that time.
Date of Interview
6-16-2003
Length of Interview
63 minutes
Listen to the Interview
Tape Number
No. 988
Transcript Number
No. 988
Length of Transcript
28 pages
Interview Number
No. 988
Terms of Use
Unrestricted
Recommended Citation
Interview with Andrés Héctor Quezada Lara by Myrna Parra-Mantilla, 2003, "Interview no. 988," Institute of Oral History, University of Texas at El Paso.
Comments
Interview in Spanish.