Interview no. 1058

Abstract

Mr. Verdín recalls growing up in Purísima del Rincón, Guanajuato, México, and working with his father in the fields; he remembers receiving formal education up to the fifth grade; he joined the Bracero Program in 1959, and relates his experience during the hiring process; additionally, he discusses how he was chosen to be a cook in the bracero camps, and what his life was like as a bracero; he also worked in Arizona and California picking cotton; these activities he did until 1967; after the Bracero Program ended, he returned to the United States as an undocumented worker; he describes how he crossed the border and the work he did in the U.S.; furthermore, he concludes by stating that he has lived in Austin, Texas since 1971 with his family, and that he took advantage of the amnesty offered in 1985