Loreto Martínez Villegas
Title
Loreto Martínez Villegas
Description
Biographical Synopsis of Interviewee: Loreto Martínez was born on July 7, 1932, in Cuencamé, Durango, México; he was the fifth of nine brothers; to help his father, he started working in agriculture at the age of thirteen; he worked in construction and picked cotton throughout his teenage years; in 1947, he traveled to the México-United States border in Tamaulipas, México, and was hired as an undocumented worker in Brownsville, Texas; in 1954, he joined the bracero program and worked in California, Indiana, Oklahoma, and Texas; he gathered cabbage, carrots, green peppers, lettuce, and sugar beets; additionally, he cut Christmas Trees, picked cantaloupes, watermelons, and cotton; he performed these activities until 1964.
Summary of Interview: Mr. Martínez recalls his first job cleaning grass from a pond for 25 cents, and his undocumented work in Brownsville, Texas; he remembers hearing about the bracero program over the radio in 1947; in 1954, he joined the program and worked in California, Indiana, Oklahoma, and Texas; he describes the hiring process in the contracting centers of Monterrey, Nuevo León, México and Chihuahua, Chihuahua, México; additionally, he discusses the medical exams he endured at Rio Vista, a processing center in Socorro, Texas; he recounts daily activities on farms, the different wages they received, and how work was performed; furthermore, he states what the lengths of contracts were, the treatment they received from foremen, and the help they got from interpreters; he also presents what kind of housing they had, the food they made, and how they were paid; moreover, he relates the benefits of being a bracero and why he is proud of his experience.
Summary of Interview: Mr. Martínez recalls his first job cleaning grass from a pond for 25 cents, and his undocumented work in Brownsville, Texas; he remembers hearing about the bracero program over the radio in 1947; in 1954, he joined the program and worked in California, Indiana, Oklahoma, and Texas; he describes the hiring process in the contracting centers of Monterrey, Nuevo León, México and Chihuahua, Chihuahua, México; additionally, he discusses the medical exams he endured at Rio Vista, a processing center in Socorro, Texas; he recounts daily activities on farms, the different wages they received, and how work was performed; furthermore, he states what the lengths of contracts were, the treatment they received from foremen, and the help they got from interpreters; he also presents what kind of housing they had, the food they made, and how they were paid; moreover, he relates the benefits of being a bracero and why he is proud of his experience.
Creator
Martínez, Laureano
Martínez Villegas, Loreto
Date
2003-03-19
Subject
Bracero
Rights
Institute of Oral History, The University of Texas at El Paso
Language
spa
title (Spanish)
Loreto Martínez Villegas
creator (Spanish)
Martínez, Laureano
Rights Holder
Institute of Oral History, The University of Texas at El Paso
Online Submission
No
Interviewer
Martínez, Laureano
Interviewee
Martínez Villegas, Loreto
Location
Durango, Durango, México
Original Format
Mini Disc
Duration
1:47:11
Bit Rate/Frequency
24 bit
96 k
96 k
File Name Identifier
Martinez_Villegas_DGO023
Citation
Martínez, Laureano and Martínez Villegas, Loreto, “Loreto Martínez Villegas,” Bracero History Archive, accessed November 4, 2025, https://www.braceroarchive.org/es/items/show/212.