Maria Dolores Lopez interview
Item
Title
Maria Dolores Lopez interview
Description
Microsoft Word document, 12 pages
Creator
Lopez, Maria Dolores
Lopez, Guillermo Diaz
Relation
StoryCorps Interviews
Coverage
California State University, Fresno
Date
4/16/2016
Identifier
SCMS_stcp_00002
extracted text
>> Willie Lopez: My name Guillermo Diaz Lopez, everybody knows me as Willie. I'm 64 years old. Today's
date is April 17, 2016. We're located at Madden Library at Fresno State, Fresno, California. My
relationship to the person I will be interviewing is that I am her son, she is my mother. And let me ask
what your name is.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: My name is Maria Dolores Lopez.
>> Willie Lopez: How old are you?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [inaudible foreign word] sesenta tres anos.
>> Willie Lopez: Okay and today's date is April 17th of 2016. We're located at the Madden Library of
Fresno State in Fresno, California. What's your relationship to me? What are you to me?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken] Willie Lopez, he's my son.
>> Willie Lopez: Okay, well I'm going to start with asking you some questions [Foreign language being
spoken] preguntas. Let's go ahead and just begin from the beginning. Why did you come to the United
States and where did you come from [Foreign language being spoken]?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: How old was he?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: Guillermo [Foreign language being spoken] Okay, excuse me, excuse me
[Foreign language being spoken].
>> Willie Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]. So you say that you were born in Guadalajara, Jalisco,
you came to a frontier town called Mexicali, you crossed the border after you met a very nice gentleman
that you later married and your son who happened to be me as an infant was tossed over the fence
while someone on the other side caught him, which is me. And then after crossing the fence all his
belongings were lost, so he had very few items. You boarded a bus in Mexicali, the immigration was on
the bus checking for documents and your response was as they asked you for documents was in English.
>> Willie Lopez: Me.
>> Willie Lopez: And because of your response they let you go assuming you were okay and that was
your introduction to this country. Correct?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: Correct, correct.
>> Willie Lopez: Let me go ahead and ask you another question [Foreign language being spoken]. Why
did you come to this country?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken] Heraldo Lopez.
>> Willie Lopez: [Foreign language spoken] So you came over here because there wasn't very much
work, a lot of the work that was in Mexicali was not very beneficial. So you ended up in Sanger,
California working the fields, picking peaches, and you also picked lemons which you hated because they
have big thorns and you disliked them so much. But you knew how to save. And because you knew how
to save money you were able to survive well enough. So now that you're here in the Central Valley as an
agricultural, as a farmer worker can you tell us some of your experiences [Foreign language being
spoken]? Tell us where did you live, what kind of places did you live [Foreign language being spoken].
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken] So you lived in the Sanger area and you lived in a
house, your husband was arrested, sent back to Mexico even though he was legally able to be here in
the United States. So they actually deported him again, it was an injustice as far as you're concerned
because of the legality. You ended up going to McFarland because you were disgusted and just didn’t
really wanted to stay in this area. You sneaked to—away from the house to go to work because you
wanted to work and you were picking potatoes at that time in the McFarland area. Can you tell me what
kind of housing locations you lived in [Foreign language being spoken]?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: In a trailer.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So you lived in there, you're very comfortable. Did you live in other camps or I think at
one time you told me that you lived in a train, looked like a–a boxcar of a train [Foreign language being
spoken].
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: What was it?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: Trailer.
>> Willie Lopez: A trailer.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: That was hooked up. Okay you lived in a trailer.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: And you had no understanding of the kind of crops that were here, but you enjoyed
them, you liked eating them and can you tell me more about -- we're talking about now the 50's. Let's
jump into the 60's when you came in Delano and we lived in the Central Valley. Can you tell me more
about your experiences when you met what we called [foreign word] at that time?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: When in the late 50's mid 50's, late 50's, 1950's?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So we're talking about 1956 to 1957 you lived across a church, Catholic Church in Delano
[inaudible] lived nearby?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So in the mid 60's you got involved with the boycott and the activities of the union? You
enjoyed it and you participated in what was now considered to be the very first march from Delano to
Sacramento. And you remember getting blisters on your feet.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: Ah, well you remember seeing a lot of Filipinos involved in [inaudible] and when you
came to Sanger and throughout the boycotts your recollection is having seen a lot of Filipinos.
[Inaudible]?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: Yeah, yeah.
>> Willie Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: How important were the Filipinos in regards to the boycott?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So the Filipinos even before Cesar got involved they were already in full force and they
were 100 percent involved in their activities against the injustices of the fields?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: Sixty acres.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: She's talking about how the Filipinos have already developed a location where they
would meet in Delano and they had already been organized long before the union existed.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: Okay, so there were times when there was a need to eat and at that moment the
Filipinos would cook in huge vats and they would feed everybody and they came and who wanted to
also have something to eat. Can you at this point?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So Cesar would motivate you and everybody because of the way you explain right now
is that sometimes they were being treated worse than animals.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: Let me explain what you said so far. Your husband went to a hospital one time and this
is one of your recollections of the abuses that would take place for many of the people. And when
went—he arrived at the hospital he noticed there were some gentlemen who had been injured, they
were being treated. He talked to one of them in the restroom in private and asked him what happened
they told him that their father was dead back where they lived and there were a lot of other injured
people. So he took it upon himself and you to find out what was going on and with the help of a
gentleman by the name of [inaudible] who was a lawyer and another gentleman Lopez who is also a
lawyer you were able to inquire a van, went to the location, found injured men and there was a body.
But before you could even do that there were some people who were part of the ranch or the location
who would not allow you to come in initially and they were standing there with guns drawn and you
found out that they were pretty much being sequestered. And that's when you first realized that these
men were being treated the way they were and kept in some really awful conditions? [Foreign language
being spoken] and what happened after that?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: You helped the men? [Foreign language being spoken]
>>Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: Oh so you gathered funds to send the body back home?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: And so what she ended up doing and her husband was to gather enough funds to be
able to transport the body back to his homeland in Mexico and some people help, others were
suspicious, but they were able to gather enough and they were able to get the whole process going from
a church at the corner Bethel [presumed spelling] and American, which is a Baptist Church located in Del
Rey, California. And so this is one of your recollections of what happened to [Foreign language being
spoken].
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: Si.
>> Willie Lopez: [Foreign language speaking] In Reedley, California. Just jump to when you were in
Reedley, California and you were protesting [Foreign word] and you had an encounter with the police
[Foreign language being spoken].
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So you were in Reedley, California asking people to get the fields because you were
trying to have a boycott, but they wouldn't leave because they needed the money so they could live. Is
that what you're saying to me [Foreign language being spoken]?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: let me go ahead and explain what you said so far.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken] I'm sorry that you said that during that time you were
arrested and they were giving us a lecture as to that if we continued being involved in a union, then we
would remain in jail for the rest of our life. And so we were transported to Fresno and then what
happened after that [Foreign language being spoken]?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willies Lopez: So the lawyers—the people from the union bailed out myself, my dad and everyone
that was arrested?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So they arrested a lot of women, but you were able to get away. Well that brings up a
very—another topic that was very interesting that I'm going to ask you [Foreign language being spoken].
How involved were the women in the union?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: Were the women ever hit or beat up by the police [Foreign language being spoken]?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: and so
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So the women never gave up and they continued working and they were arrested just
like everybody else. What was your role specifically in the union [Foreign language being spoken]?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: Let me explain. Well, So it started out that you were recruited by a doctor by the name
of Jose Bautista [phonetic] at one time along with many other women to become involved in a program
that would eventually train you how to be health workers and nurses and helping the community in
those areas in the medical field and you received your title and your diploma in [Foreign word] where
Cesar Chavez is now buried, you say. And so during that time you were able to help out in that matter
and then eventually you started to work in other areas and meeting with the [Foreign language] who
would cover to the house periodically to help plan. And one of the projects was to develop a mural, on a
church in Sanger [Foreign language being spoken]. I believe that church—
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: St. Mary's Catholic Church in Sanger, the mural is still there. And—and so you gathered
funds and people were helping out, but many of them wouldn’t want to help because there were
contractors and actually some of the people that you boycotted, but they gave anyway because they
said we'll do it for you not for them. But you still said fine I'll take the money, we need it. And so you
were able to get projects of that type going [Foreign language being spoken]. Can you tell us something
about when you were a cook?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: For the union [Foreign language being spoken]. Where did you cook, what did you do?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: Okay, cooked at home.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken] okay.
>>Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So let me go ahead and explain that you developed a friendship with Jesse de la Cruz
[presumed spelling] whose son was killed during the course of the boycott, during that time. She's very
well involved with the union for many years and she participated in many of the times when the cooking
was being done that you also had and would hold at your own home. And that you lived in a house that
was open to everybody, you would bring in a lot of people into the house who were sometimes in need
of a place to stay and you provided a location as to where it's at today which happens to be near Del
Rey, California cross streets named Bethel and American Avenues. [Foreign language being spoken] why
did you get involved?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: Well let me explain that part. You worked hard and the question was, you know, why
did you get involved is because you knew what it was to be a farmworker, you understood it, you
remembered getting up early in the morning and going to go pick strawberries and that would come
home, you would come home exhausted, you would take care of things and go to sleep. We would not
wake up once until it was time to go again and then you would be off again every day. You didn't enjoy
it, but you did it. You understand what it was to be the life of a [foreign word] and you were also you’re
saying fortunate to have such a good husband who backed you up who worked with you and not against
you. You saved your money and you helped out in every way, in every capacity that you could. That you
provided a recollection when you used to pick cotton and you would take these sacks of cotton at the
time when cotton was picked by hand and the sacks weighed a hundred pounds. And that people would
try to help you load up the sacks and you refused because you said I can do it myself, I can handle it
myself, I don't need anybody's help. And those are some of your recollections having worked in the
fields. Anything else you want to say about that experience, anything [Foreign language spoken]?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken] I'm aware that you were also I would say one of the
main reasons Premier Health Clinic existed. Can you tell me how that came about [Foreign language
being spoken]?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken] So there was a clinic in [inaudible] or there is a clinic in
[inaudible] it is the [inaudible] Health Clinic that you were a founder of based on a committee that you
were also given some awards for that many years ago as a result of being involved in the union. Let me
ask you another question [Foreign language being spoken].
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: Her belief and her advice for the youth of today is to get an education, get yourself
employed and if you can't find a job then you go offer and say I'll do anything, you know, even if it's
cleaning streets or working out for whatever that she feels that many of the students have become
complacent of the freebies that are being offered and she feels that coming from a background where
you worked hard for everything that you can in this country you have opportunities that you don't in
other places. But you still have to go out and work and look for a job even if you don't have one you
have to make it happen.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: And she says—
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: And not to forget who got you there, who opened the doors for your opportunities that
it's people like herself and Cesar Chavez that short little guy—dark little guy who did so much for so
many people, not to forget where you came from and not to forget who got you there and how you got
there to remember that forever [Foreign language being spoken].
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: Don’t give up. Don’t give up. [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: and she’s saying—
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So she's saying also for the women educate yourselves, work hard.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: She said she feels like even herself sometimes people don't take her anywhere because
she has difficulty walking and it’s uh—as a result of many things over the years, but her encouragement
to the women, to young ladies is not to give up and to continue. And she notices and she's realized that
there's a whole lot of a new generation of women being involved, being up front and making inroads
and trailblazers in our community. [Foreign language being spoken] do you have any thoughts about
going back to Mexico?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So you do have desires to go back, but not to stay because you feel like this is it. This is
where I'm going to be for the rest of my life, brothers that have passed away, many important in her life
are no longer here, yet this is her home now [Foreign language being spoken].
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: She’s—
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: --She's very high and very strong on education. She feels that if you don't and she
mentions throughout is that if you don't pursue your education and become educated that you are
going to be dummied down and people will do what they want with you because you don't know, you're
not aware. And [Foreign language being spoken] what kind of things do you have for the future?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So she said—
>> Maria Dolores Lopes: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So her desire is at this point that although she is at times not able to continue in the
manner that she can physically she wants God to give her the ability and the avenue to be able to
continue doing things she wishes to do, such as being involved still with activities whether it's
membership in the union or otherwise and provide the advice of saying, you know what don't give up.
And sometimes she—she wants to be there just to make sure that history is being recited that she
provides the accuracy of what history was.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: Thank you.
date is April 17, 2016. We're located at Madden Library at Fresno State, Fresno, California. My
relationship to the person I will be interviewing is that I am her son, she is my mother. And let me ask
what your name is.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: My name is Maria Dolores Lopez.
>> Willie Lopez: How old are you?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [inaudible foreign word] sesenta tres anos.
>> Willie Lopez: Okay and today's date is April 17th of 2016. We're located at the Madden Library of
Fresno State in Fresno, California. What's your relationship to me? What are you to me?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken] Willie Lopez, he's my son.
>> Willie Lopez: Okay, well I'm going to start with asking you some questions [Foreign language being
spoken] preguntas. Let's go ahead and just begin from the beginning. Why did you come to the United
States and where did you come from [Foreign language being spoken]?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: How old was he?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: Guillermo [Foreign language being spoken] Okay, excuse me, excuse me
[Foreign language being spoken].
>> Willie Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]. So you say that you were born in Guadalajara, Jalisco,
you came to a frontier town called Mexicali, you crossed the border after you met a very nice gentleman
that you later married and your son who happened to be me as an infant was tossed over the fence
while someone on the other side caught him, which is me. And then after crossing the fence all his
belongings were lost, so he had very few items. You boarded a bus in Mexicali, the immigration was on
the bus checking for documents and your response was as they asked you for documents was in English.
>> Willie Lopez: Me.
>> Willie Lopez: And because of your response they let you go assuming you were okay and that was
your introduction to this country. Correct?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: Correct, correct.
>> Willie Lopez: Let me go ahead and ask you another question [Foreign language being spoken]. Why
did you come to this country?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken] Heraldo Lopez.
>> Willie Lopez: [Foreign language spoken] So you came over here because there wasn't very much
work, a lot of the work that was in Mexicali was not very beneficial. So you ended up in Sanger,
California working the fields, picking peaches, and you also picked lemons which you hated because they
have big thorns and you disliked them so much. But you knew how to save. And because you knew how
to save money you were able to survive well enough. So now that you're here in the Central Valley as an
agricultural, as a farmer worker can you tell us some of your experiences [Foreign language being
spoken]? Tell us where did you live, what kind of places did you live [Foreign language being spoken].
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken] So you lived in the Sanger area and you lived in a
house, your husband was arrested, sent back to Mexico even though he was legally able to be here in
the United States. So they actually deported him again, it was an injustice as far as you're concerned
because of the legality. You ended up going to McFarland because you were disgusted and just didn’t
really wanted to stay in this area. You sneaked to—away from the house to go to work because you
wanted to work and you were picking potatoes at that time in the McFarland area. Can you tell me what
kind of housing locations you lived in [Foreign language being spoken]?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: In a trailer.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So you lived in there, you're very comfortable. Did you live in other camps or I think at
one time you told me that you lived in a train, looked like a–a boxcar of a train [Foreign language being
spoken].
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: What was it?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: Trailer.
>> Willie Lopez: A trailer.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: That was hooked up. Okay you lived in a trailer.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: And you had no understanding of the kind of crops that were here, but you enjoyed
them, you liked eating them and can you tell me more about -- we're talking about now the 50's. Let's
jump into the 60's when you came in Delano and we lived in the Central Valley. Can you tell me more
about your experiences when you met what we called [foreign word] at that time?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: When in the late 50's mid 50's, late 50's, 1950's?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So we're talking about 1956 to 1957 you lived across a church, Catholic Church in Delano
[inaudible] lived nearby?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So in the mid 60's you got involved with the boycott and the activities of the union? You
enjoyed it and you participated in what was now considered to be the very first march from Delano to
Sacramento. And you remember getting blisters on your feet.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: Ah, well you remember seeing a lot of Filipinos involved in [inaudible] and when you
came to Sanger and throughout the boycotts your recollection is having seen a lot of Filipinos.
[Inaudible]?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: Yeah, yeah.
>> Willie Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: How important were the Filipinos in regards to the boycott?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So the Filipinos even before Cesar got involved they were already in full force and they
were 100 percent involved in their activities against the injustices of the fields?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: Sixty acres.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: She's talking about how the Filipinos have already developed a location where they
would meet in Delano and they had already been organized long before the union existed.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: Okay, so there were times when there was a need to eat and at that moment the
Filipinos would cook in huge vats and they would feed everybody and they came and who wanted to
also have something to eat. Can you at this point?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So Cesar would motivate you and everybody because of the way you explain right now
is that sometimes they were being treated worse than animals.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: Let me explain what you said so far. Your husband went to a hospital one time and this
is one of your recollections of the abuses that would take place for many of the people. And when
went—he arrived at the hospital he noticed there were some gentlemen who had been injured, they
were being treated. He talked to one of them in the restroom in private and asked him what happened
they told him that their father was dead back where they lived and there were a lot of other injured
people. So he took it upon himself and you to find out what was going on and with the help of a
gentleman by the name of [inaudible] who was a lawyer and another gentleman Lopez who is also a
lawyer you were able to inquire a van, went to the location, found injured men and there was a body.
But before you could even do that there were some people who were part of the ranch or the location
who would not allow you to come in initially and they were standing there with guns drawn and you
found out that they were pretty much being sequestered. And that's when you first realized that these
men were being treated the way they were and kept in some really awful conditions? [Foreign language
being spoken] and what happened after that?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: You helped the men? [Foreign language being spoken]
>>Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: Oh so you gathered funds to send the body back home?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: And so what she ended up doing and her husband was to gather enough funds to be
able to transport the body back to his homeland in Mexico and some people help, others were
suspicious, but they were able to gather enough and they were able to get the whole process going from
a church at the corner Bethel [presumed spelling] and American, which is a Baptist Church located in Del
Rey, California. And so this is one of your recollections of what happened to [Foreign language being
spoken].
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: Si.
>> Willie Lopez: [Foreign language speaking] In Reedley, California. Just jump to when you were in
Reedley, California and you were protesting [Foreign word] and you had an encounter with the police
[Foreign language being spoken].
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So you were in Reedley, California asking people to get the fields because you were
trying to have a boycott, but they wouldn't leave because they needed the money so they could live. Is
that what you're saying to me [Foreign language being spoken]?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: let me go ahead and explain what you said so far.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken] I'm sorry that you said that during that time you were
arrested and they were giving us a lecture as to that if we continued being involved in a union, then we
would remain in jail for the rest of our life. And so we were transported to Fresno and then what
happened after that [Foreign language being spoken]?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willies Lopez: So the lawyers—the people from the union bailed out myself, my dad and everyone
that was arrested?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So they arrested a lot of women, but you were able to get away. Well that brings up a
very—another topic that was very interesting that I'm going to ask you [Foreign language being spoken].
How involved were the women in the union?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: Were the women ever hit or beat up by the police [Foreign language being spoken]?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: and so
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So the women never gave up and they continued working and they were arrested just
like everybody else. What was your role specifically in the union [Foreign language being spoken]?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: Let me explain. Well, So it started out that you were recruited by a doctor by the name
of Jose Bautista [phonetic] at one time along with many other women to become involved in a program
that would eventually train you how to be health workers and nurses and helping the community in
those areas in the medical field and you received your title and your diploma in [Foreign word] where
Cesar Chavez is now buried, you say. And so during that time you were able to help out in that matter
and then eventually you started to work in other areas and meeting with the [Foreign language] who
would cover to the house periodically to help plan. And one of the projects was to develop a mural, on a
church in Sanger [Foreign language being spoken]. I believe that church—
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: St. Mary's Catholic Church in Sanger, the mural is still there. And—and so you gathered
funds and people were helping out, but many of them wouldn’t want to help because there were
contractors and actually some of the people that you boycotted, but they gave anyway because they
said we'll do it for you not for them. But you still said fine I'll take the money, we need it. And so you
were able to get projects of that type going [Foreign language being spoken]. Can you tell us something
about when you were a cook?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: For the union [Foreign language being spoken]. Where did you cook, what did you do?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: Okay, cooked at home.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken] okay.
>>Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So let me go ahead and explain that you developed a friendship with Jesse de la Cruz
[presumed spelling] whose son was killed during the course of the boycott, during that time. She's very
well involved with the union for many years and she participated in many of the times when the cooking
was being done that you also had and would hold at your own home. And that you lived in a house that
was open to everybody, you would bring in a lot of people into the house who were sometimes in need
of a place to stay and you provided a location as to where it's at today which happens to be near Del
Rey, California cross streets named Bethel and American Avenues. [Foreign language being spoken] why
did you get involved?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: Well let me explain that part. You worked hard and the question was, you know, why
did you get involved is because you knew what it was to be a farmworker, you understood it, you
remembered getting up early in the morning and going to go pick strawberries and that would come
home, you would come home exhausted, you would take care of things and go to sleep. We would not
wake up once until it was time to go again and then you would be off again every day. You didn't enjoy
it, but you did it. You understand what it was to be the life of a [foreign word] and you were also you’re
saying fortunate to have such a good husband who backed you up who worked with you and not against
you. You saved your money and you helped out in every way, in every capacity that you could. That you
provided a recollection when you used to pick cotton and you would take these sacks of cotton at the
time when cotton was picked by hand and the sacks weighed a hundred pounds. And that people would
try to help you load up the sacks and you refused because you said I can do it myself, I can handle it
myself, I don't need anybody's help. And those are some of your recollections having worked in the
fields. Anything else you want to say about that experience, anything [Foreign language spoken]?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken] I'm aware that you were also I would say one of the
main reasons Premier Health Clinic existed. Can you tell me how that came about [Foreign language
being spoken]?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken] So there was a clinic in [inaudible] or there is a clinic in
[inaudible] it is the [inaudible] Health Clinic that you were a founder of based on a committee that you
were also given some awards for that many years ago as a result of being involved in the union. Let me
ask you another question [Foreign language being spoken].
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: Her belief and her advice for the youth of today is to get an education, get yourself
employed and if you can't find a job then you go offer and say I'll do anything, you know, even if it's
cleaning streets or working out for whatever that she feels that many of the students have become
complacent of the freebies that are being offered and she feels that coming from a background where
you worked hard for everything that you can in this country you have opportunities that you don't in
other places. But you still have to go out and work and look for a job even if you don't have one you
have to make it happen.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: And she says—
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: And not to forget who got you there, who opened the doors for your opportunities that
it's people like herself and Cesar Chavez that short little guy—dark little guy who did so much for so
many people, not to forget where you came from and not to forget who got you there and how you got
there to remember that forever [Foreign language being spoken].
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: Don’t give up. Don’t give up. [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: and she’s saying—
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So she's saying also for the women educate yourselves, work hard.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: She said she feels like even herself sometimes people don't take her anywhere because
she has difficulty walking and it’s uh—as a result of many things over the years, but her encouragement
to the women, to young ladies is not to give up and to continue. And she notices and she's realized that
there's a whole lot of a new generation of women being involved, being up front and making inroads
and trailblazers in our community. [Foreign language being spoken] do you have any thoughts about
going back to Mexico?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So you do have desires to go back, but not to stay because you feel like this is it. This is
where I'm going to be for the rest of my life, brothers that have passed away, many important in her life
are no longer here, yet this is her home now [Foreign language being spoken].
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: She’s—
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: --She's very high and very strong on education. She feels that if you don't and she
mentions throughout is that if you don't pursue your education and become educated that you are
going to be dummied down and people will do what they want with you because you don't know, you're
not aware. And [Foreign language being spoken] what kind of things do you have for the future?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So she said—
>> Maria Dolores Lopes: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So her desire is at this point that although she is at times not able to continue in the
manner that she can physically she wants God to give her the ability and the avenue to be able to
continue doing things she wishes to do, such as being involved still with activities whether it's
membership in the union or otherwise and provide the advice of saying, you know what don't give up.
And sometimes she—she wants to be there just to make sure that history is being recited that she
provides the accuracy of what history was.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: Thank you.
>> Willie Lopez: My name Guillermo Diaz Lopez, everybody knows me as Willie. I'm 64 years old. Today's
date is April 17, 2016. We're located at Madden Library at Fresno State, Fresno, California. My
relationship to the person I will be interviewing is that I am her son, she is my mother. And let me ask
what your name is.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: My name is Maria Dolores Lopez.
>> Willie Lopez: How old are you?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [inaudible foreign word] sesenta tres anos.
>> Willie Lopez: Okay and today's date is April 17th of 2016. We're located at the Madden Library of
Fresno State in Fresno, California. What's your relationship to me? What are you to me?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken] Willie Lopez, he's my son.
>> Willie Lopez: Okay, well I'm going to start with asking you some questions [Foreign language being
spoken] preguntas. Let's go ahead and just begin from the beginning. Why did you come to the United
States and where did you come from [Foreign language being spoken]?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: How old was he?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: Guillermo [Foreign language being spoken] Okay, excuse me, excuse me
[Foreign language being spoken].
>> Willie Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]. So you say that you were born in Guadalajara, Jalisco,
you came to a frontier town called Mexicali, you crossed the border after you met a very nice gentleman
that you later married and your son who happened to be me as an infant was tossed over the fence
while someone on the other side caught him, which is me. And then after crossing the fence all his
belongings were lost, so he had very few items. You boarded a bus in Mexicali, the immigration was on
the bus checking for documents and your response was as they asked you for documents was in English.
>> Willie Lopez: Me.
>> Willie Lopez: And because of your response they let you go assuming you were okay and that was
your introduction to this country. Correct?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: Correct, correct.
>> Willie Lopez: Let me go ahead and ask you another question [Foreign language being spoken]. Why
did you come to this country?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken] Heraldo Lopez.
>> Willie Lopez: [Foreign language spoken] So you came over here because there wasn't very much
work, a lot of the work that was in Mexicali was not very beneficial. So you ended up in Sanger,
California working the fields, picking peaches, and you also picked lemons which you hated because they
have big thorns and you disliked them so much. But you knew how to save. And because you knew how
to save money you were able to survive well enough. So now that you're here in the Central Valley as an
agricultural, as a farmer worker can you tell us some of your experiences [Foreign language being
spoken]? Tell us where did you live, what kind of places did you live [Foreign language being spoken].
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken] So you lived in the Sanger area and you lived in a
house, your husband was arrested, sent back to Mexico even though he was legally able to be here in
the United States. So they actually deported him again, it was an injustice as far as you're concerned
because of the legality. You ended up going to McFarland because you were disgusted and just didn’t
really wanted to stay in this area. You sneaked to—away from the house to go to work because you
wanted to work and you were picking potatoes at that time in the McFarland area. Can you tell me what
kind of housing locations you lived in [Foreign language being spoken]?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: In a trailer.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So you lived in there, you're very comfortable. Did you live in other camps or I think at
one time you told me that you lived in a train, looked like a–a boxcar of a train [Foreign language being
spoken].
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: What was it?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: Trailer.
>> Willie Lopez: A trailer.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: That was hooked up. Okay you lived in a trailer.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: And you had no understanding of the kind of crops that were here, but you enjoyed
them, you liked eating them and can you tell me more about -- we're talking about now the 50's. Let's
jump into the 60's when you came in Delano and we lived in the Central Valley. Can you tell me more
about your experiences when you met what we called [foreign word] at that time?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: When in the late 50's mid 50's, late 50's, 1950's?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So we're talking about 1956 to 1957 you lived across a church, Catholic Church in Delano
[inaudible] lived nearby?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So in the mid 60's you got involved with the boycott and the activities of the union? You
enjoyed it and you participated in what was now considered to be the very first march from Delano to
Sacramento. And you remember getting blisters on your feet.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: Ah, well you remember seeing a lot of Filipinos involved in [inaudible] and when you
came to Sanger and throughout the boycotts your recollection is having seen a lot of Filipinos.
[Inaudible]?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: Yeah, yeah.
>> Willie Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: How important were the Filipinos in regards to the boycott?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So the Filipinos even before Cesar got involved they were already in full force and they
were 100 percent involved in their activities against the injustices of the fields?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: Sixty acres.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: She's talking about how the Filipinos have already developed a location where they
would meet in Delano and they had already been organized long before the union existed.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: Okay, so there were times when there was a need to eat and at that moment the
Filipinos would cook in huge vats and they would feed everybody and they came and who wanted to
also have something to eat. Can you at this point?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So Cesar would motivate you and everybody because of the way you explain right now
is that sometimes they were being treated worse than animals.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: Let me explain what you said so far. Your husband went to a hospital one time and this
is one of your recollections of the abuses that would take place for many of the people. And when
went—he arrived at the hospital he noticed there were some gentlemen who had been injured, they
were being treated. He talked to one of them in the restroom in private and asked him what happened
they told him that their father was dead back where they lived and there were a lot of other injured
people. So he took it upon himself and you to find out what was going on and with the help of a
gentleman by the name of [inaudible] who was a lawyer and another gentleman Lopez who is also a
lawyer you were able to inquire a van, went to the location, found injured men and there was a body.
But before you could even do that there were some people who were part of the ranch or the location
who would not allow you to come in initially and they were standing there with guns drawn and you
found out that they were pretty much being sequestered. And that's when you first realized that these
men were being treated the way they were and kept in some really awful conditions? [Foreign language
being spoken] and what happened after that?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: You helped the men? [Foreign language being spoken]
>>Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: Oh so you gathered funds to send the body back home?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: And so what she ended up doing and her husband was to gather enough funds to be
able to transport the body back to his homeland in Mexico and some people help, others were
suspicious, but they were able to gather enough and they were able to get the whole process going from
a church at the corner Bethel [presumed spelling] and American, which is a Baptist Church located in Del
Rey, California. And so this is one of your recollections of what happened to [Foreign language being
spoken].
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: Si.
>> Willie Lopez: [Foreign language speaking] In Reedley, California. Just jump to when you were in
Reedley, California and you were protesting [Foreign word] and you had an encounter with the police
[Foreign language being spoken].
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So you were in Reedley, California asking people to get the fields because you were
trying to have a boycott, but they wouldn't leave because they needed the money so they could live. Is
that what you're saying to me [Foreign language being spoken]?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: let me go ahead and explain what you said so far.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken] I'm sorry that you said that during that time you were
arrested and they were giving us a lecture as to that if we continued being involved in a union, then we
would remain in jail for the rest of our life. And so we were transported to Fresno and then what
happened after that [Foreign language being spoken]?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willies Lopez: So the lawyers—the people from the union bailed out myself, my dad and everyone
that was arrested?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So they arrested a lot of women, but you were able to get away. Well that brings up a
very—another topic that was very interesting that I'm going to ask you [Foreign language being spoken].
How involved were the women in the union?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: Were the women ever hit or beat up by the police [Foreign language being spoken]?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: and so
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So the women never gave up and they continued working and they were arrested just
like everybody else. What was your role specifically in the union [Foreign language being spoken]?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: Let me explain. Well, So it started out that you were recruited by a doctor by the name
of Jose Bautista [phonetic] at one time along with many other women to become involved in a program
that would eventually train you how to be health workers and nurses and helping the community in
those areas in the medical field and you received your title and your diploma in [Foreign word] where
Cesar Chavez is now buried, you say. And so during that time you were able to help out in that matter
and then eventually you started to work in other areas and meeting with the [Foreign language] who
would cover to the house periodically to help plan. And one of the projects was to develop a mural, on a
church in Sanger [Foreign language being spoken]. I believe that church—
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: St. Mary's Catholic Church in Sanger, the mural is still there. And—and so you gathered
funds and people were helping out, but many of them wouldn’t want to help because there were
contractors and actually some of the people that you boycotted, but they gave anyway because they
said we'll do it for you not for them. But you still said fine I'll take the money, we need it. And so you
were able to get projects of that type going [Foreign language being spoken]. Can you tell us something
about when you were a cook?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: For the union [Foreign language being spoken]. Where did you cook, what did you do?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: Okay, cooked at home.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken] okay.
>>Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So let me go ahead and explain that you developed a friendship with Jesse de la Cruz
[presumed spelling] whose son was killed during the course of the boycott, during that time. She's very
well involved with the union for many years and she participated in many of the times when the cooking
was being done that you also had and would hold at your own home. And that you lived in a house that
was open to everybody, you would bring in a lot of people into the house who were sometimes in need
of a place to stay and you provided a location as to where it's at today which happens to be near Del
Rey, California cross streets named Bethel and American Avenues. [Foreign language being spoken] why
did you get involved?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: Well let me explain that part. You worked hard and the question was, you know, why
did you get involved is because you knew what it was to be a farmworker, you understood it, you
remembered getting up early in the morning and going to go pick strawberries and that would come
home, you would come home exhausted, you would take care of things and go to sleep. We would not
wake up once until it was time to go again and then you would be off again every day. You didn't enjoy
it, but you did it. You understand what it was to be the life of a [foreign word] and you were also you’re
saying fortunate to have such a good husband who backed you up who worked with you and not against
you. You saved your money and you helped out in every way, in every capacity that you could. That you
provided a recollection when you used to pick cotton and you would take these sacks of cotton at the
time when cotton was picked by hand and the sacks weighed a hundred pounds. And that people would
try to help you load up the sacks and you refused because you said I can do it myself, I can handle it
myself, I don't need anybody's help. And those are some of your recollections having worked in the
fields. Anything else you want to say about that experience, anything [Foreign language spoken]?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken] I'm aware that you were also I would say one of the
main reasons Premier Health Clinic existed. Can you tell me how that came about [Foreign language
being spoken]?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken] So there was a clinic in [inaudible] or there is a clinic in
[inaudible] it is the [inaudible] Health Clinic that you were a founder of based on a committee that you
were also given some awards for that many years ago as a result of being involved in the union. Let me
ask you another question [Foreign language being spoken].
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: Her belief and her advice for the youth of today is to get an education, get yourself
employed and if you can't find a job then you go offer and say I'll do anything, you know, even if it's
cleaning streets or working out for whatever that she feels that many of the students have become
complacent of the freebies that are being offered and she feels that coming from a background where
you worked hard for everything that you can in this country you have opportunities that you don't in
other places. But you still have to go out and work and look for a job even if you don't have one you
have to make it happen.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: And she says—
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: And not to forget who got you there, who opened the doors for your opportunities that
it's people like herself and Cesar Chavez that short little guy—dark little guy who did so much for so
many people, not to forget where you came from and not to forget who got you there and how you got
there to remember that forever [Foreign language being spoken].
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: Don’t give up. Don’t give up. [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: and she’s saying—
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So she's saying also for the women educate yourselves, work hard.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: She said she feels like even herself sometimes people don't take her anywhere because
she has difficulty walking and it’s uh—as a result of many things over the years, but her encouragement
to the women, to young ladies is not to give up and to continue. And she notices and she's realized that
there's a whole lot of a new generation of women being involved, being up front and making inroads
and trailblazers in our community. [Foreign language being spoken] do you have any thoughts about
going back to Mexico?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So you do have desires to go back, but not to stay because you feel like this is it. This is
where I'm going to be for the rest of my life, brothers that have passed away, many important in her life
are no longer here, yet this is her home now [Foreign language being spoken].
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: She’s—
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: --She's very high and very strong on education. She feels that if you don't and she
mentions throughout is that if you don't pursue your education and become educated that you are
going to be dummied down and people will do what they want with you because you don't know, you're
not aware. And [Foreign language being spoken] what kind of things do you have for the future?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So she said—
>> Maria Dolores Lopes: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So her desire is at this point that although she is at times not able to continue in the
manner that she can physically she wants God to give her the ability and the avenue to be able to
continue doing things she wishes to do, such as being involved still with activities whether it's
membership in the union or otherwise and provide the advice of saying, you know what don't give up.
And sometimes she—she wants to be there just to make sure that history is being recited that she
provides the accuracy of what history was.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: Thank you.
date is April 17, 2016. We're located at Madden Library at Fresno State, Fresno, California. My
relationship to the person I will be interviewing is that I am her son, she is my mother. And let me ask
what your name is.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: My name is Maria Dolores Lopez.
>> Willie Lopez: How old are you?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [inaudible foreign word] sesenta tres anos.
>> Willie Lopez: Okay and today's date is April 17th of 2016. We're located at the Madden Library of
Fresno State in Fresno, California. What's your relationship to me? What are you to me?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken] Willie Lopez, he's my son.
>> Willie Lopez: Okay, well I'm going to start with asking you some questions [Foreign language being
spoken] preguntas. Let's go ahead and just begin from the beginning. Why did you come to the United
States and where did you come from [Foreign language being spoken]?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: How old was he?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: Guillermo [Foreign language being spoken] Okay, excuse me, excuse me
[Foreign language being spoken].
>> Willie Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]. So you say that you were born in Guadalajara, Jalisco,
you came to a frontier town called Mexicali, you crossed the border after you met a very nice gentleman
that you later married and your son who happened to be me as an infant was tossed over the fence
while someone on the other side caught him, which is me. And then after crossing the fence all his
belongings were lost, so he had very few items. You boarded a bus in Mexicali, the immigration was on
the bus checking for documents and your response was as they asked you for documents was in English.
>> Willie Lopez: Me.
>> Willie Lopez: And because of your response they let you go assuming you were okay and that was
your introduction to this country. Correct?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: Correct, correct.
>> Willie Lopez: Let me go ahead and ask you another question [Foreign language being spoken]. Why
did you come to this country?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken] Heraldo Lopez.
>> Willie Lopez: [Foreign language spoken] So you came over here because there wasn't very much
work, a lot of the work that was in Mexicali was not very beneficial. So you ended up in Sanger,
California working the fields, picking peaches, and you also picked lemons which you hated because they
have big thorns and you disliked them so much. But you knew how to save. And because you knew how
to save money you were able to survive well enough. So now that you're here in the Central Valley as an
agricultural, as a farmer worker can you tell us some of your experiences [Foreign language being
spoken]? Tell us where did you live, what kind of places did you live [Foreign language being spoken].
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken] So you lived in the Sanger area and you lived in a
house, your husband was arrested, sent back to Mexico even though he was legally able to be here in
the United States. So they actually deported him again, it was an injustice as far as you're concerned
because of the legality. You ended up going to McFarland because you were disgusted and just didn’t
really wanted to stay in this area. You sneaked to—away from the house to go to work because you
wanted to work and you were picking potatoes at that time in the McFarland area. Can you tell me what
kind of housing locations you lived in [Foreign language being spoken]?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: In a trailer.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So you lived in there, you're very comfortable. Did you live in other camps or I think at
one time you told me that you lived in a train, looked like a–a boxcar of a train [Foreign language being
spoken].
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: What was it?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: Trailer.
>> Willie Lopez: A trailer.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: That was hooked up. Okay you lived in a trailer.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: And you had no understanding of the kind of crops that were here, but you enjoyed
them, you liked eating them and can you tell me more about -- we're talking about now the 50's. Let's
jump into the 60's when you came in Delano and we lived in the Central Valley. Can you tell me more
about your experiences when you met what we called [foreign word] at that time?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: When in the late 50's mid 50's, late 50's, 1950's?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So we're talking about 1956 to 1957 you lived across a church, Catholic Church in Delano
[inaudible] lived nearby?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So in the mid 60's you got involved with the boycott and the activities of the union? You
enjoyed it and you participated in what was now considered to be the very first march from Delano to
Sacramento. And you remember getting blisters on your feet.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: Ah, well you remember seeing a lot of Filipinos involved in [inaudible] and when you
came to Sanger and throughout the boycotts your recollection is having seen a lot of Filipinos.
[Inaudible]?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: Yeah, yeah.
>> Willie Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: How important were the Filipinos in regards to the boycott?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So the Filipinos even before Cesar got involved they were already in full force and they
were 100 percent involved in their activities against the injustices of the fields?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: Sixty acres.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: She's talking about how the Filipinos have already developed a location where they
would meet in Delano and they had already been organized long before the union existed.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: Okay, so there were times when there was a need to eat and at that moment the
Filipinos would cook in huge vats and they would feed everybody and they came and who wanted to
also have something to eat. Can you at this point?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So Cesar would motivate you and everybody because of the way you explain right now
is that sometimes they were being treated worse than animals.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: Let me explain what you said so far. Your husband went to a hospital one time and this
is one of your recollections of the abuses that would take place for many of the people. And when
went—he arrived at the hospital he noticed there were some gentlemen who had been injured, they
were being treated. He talked to one of them in the restroom in private and asked him what happened
they told him that their father was dead back where they lived and there were a lot of other injured
people. So he took it upon himself and you to find out what was going on and with the help of a
gentleman by the name of [inaudible] who was a lawyer and another gentleman Lopez who is also a
lawyer you were able to inquire a van, went to the location, found injured men and there was a body.
But before you could even do that there were some people who were part of the ranch or the location
who would not allow you to come in initially and they were standing there with guns drawn and you
found out that they were pretty much being sequestered. And that's when you first realized that these
men were being treated the way they were and kept in some really awful conditions? [Foreign language
being spoken] and what happened after that?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: You helped the men? [Foreign language being spoken]
>>Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: Oh so you gathered funds to send the body back home?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: And so what she ended up doing and her husband was to gather enough funds to be
able to transport the body back to his homeland in Mexico and some people help, others were
suspicious, but they were able to gather enough and they were able to get the whole process going from
a church at the corner Bethel [presumed spelling] and American, which is a Baptist Church located in Del
Rey, California. And so this is one of your recollections of what happened to [Foreign language being
spoken].
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: Si.
>> Willie Lopez: [Foreign language speaking] In Reedley, California. Just jump to when you were in
Reedley, California and you were protesting [Foreign word] and you had an encounter with the police
[Foreign language being spoken].
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So you were in Reedley, California asking people to get the fields because you were
trying to have a boycott, but they wouldn't leave because they needed the money so they could live. Is
that what you're saying to me [Foreign language being spoken]?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: let me go ahead and explain what you said so far.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken] I'm sorry that you said that during that time you were
arrested and they were giving us a lecture as to that if we continued being involved in a union, then we
would remain in jail for the rest of our life. And so we were transported to Fresno and then what
happened after that [Foreign language being spoken]?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willies Lopez: So the lawyers—the people from the union bailed out myself, my dad and everyone
that was arrested?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So they arrested a lot of women, but you were able to get away. Well that brings up a
very—another topic that was very interesting that I'm going to ask you [Foreign language being spoken].
How involved were the women in the union?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: Were the women ever hit or beat up by the police [Foreign language being spoken]?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: and so
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So the women never gave up and they continued working and they were arrested just
like everybody else. What was your role specifically in the union [Foreign language being spoken]?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: Let me explain. Well, So it started out that you were recruited by a doctor by the name
of Jose Bautista [phonetic] at one time along with many other women to become involved in a program
that would eventually train you how to be health workers and nurses and helping the community in
those areas in the medical field and you received your title and your diploma in [Foreign word] where
Cesar Chavez is now buried, you say. And so during that time you were able to help out in that matter
and then eventually you started to work in other areas and meeting with the [Foreign language] who
would cover to the house periodically to help plan. And one of the projects was to develop a mural, on a
church in Sanger [Foreign language being spoken]. I believe that church—
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: St. Mary's Catholic Church in Sanger, the mural is still there. And—and so you gathered
funds and people were helping out, but many of them wouldn’t want to help because there were
contractors and actually some of the people that you boycotted, but they gave anyway because they
said we'll do it for you not for them. But you still said fine I'll take the money, we need it. And so you
were able to get projects of that type going [Foreign language being spoken]. Can you tell us something
about when you were a cook?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: For the union [Foreign language being spoken]. Where did you cook, what did you do?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: Okay, cooked at home.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken] okay.
>>Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So let me go ahead and explain that you developed a friendship with Jesse de la Cruz
[presumed spelling] whose son was killed during the course of the boycott, during that time. She's very
well involved with the union for many years and she participated in many of the times when the cooking
was being done that you also had and would hold at your own home. And that you lived in a house that
was open to everybody, you would bring in a lot of people into the house who were sometimes in need
of a place to stay and you provided a location as to where it's at today which happens to be near Del
Rey, California cross streets named Bethel and American Avenues. [Foreign language being spoken] why
did you get involved?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: Well let me explain that part. You worked hard and the question was, you know, why
did you get involved is because you knew what it was to be a farmworker, you understood it, you
remembered getting up early in the morning and going to go pick strawberries and that would come
home, you would come home exhausted, you would take care of things and go to sleep. We would not
wake up once until it was time to go again and then you would be off again every day. You didn't enjoy
it, but you did it. You understand what it was to be the life of a [foreign word] and you were also you’re
saying fortunate to have such a good husband who backed you up who worked with you and not against
you. You saved your money and you helped out in every way, in every capacity that you could. That you
provided a recollection when you used to pick cotton and you would take these sacks of cotton at the
time when cotton was picked by hand and the sacks weighed a hundred pounds. And that people would
try to help you load up the sacks and you refused because you said I can do it myself, I can handle it
myself, I don't need anybody's help. And those are some of your recollections having worked in the
fields. Anything else you want to say about that experience, anything [Foreign language spoken]?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken] I'm aware that you were also I would say one of the
main reasons Premier Health Clinic existed. Can you tell me how that came about [Foreign language
being spoken]?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken] So there was a clinic in [inaudible] or there is a clinic in
[inaudible] it is the [inaudible] Health Clinic that you were a founder of based on a committee that you
were also given some awards for that many years ago as a result of being involved in the union. Let me
ask you another question [Foreign language being spoken].
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: Her belief and her advice for the youth of today is to get an education, get yourself
employed and if you can't find a job then you go offer and say I'll do anything, you know, even if it's
cleaning streets or working out for whatever that she feels that many of the students have become
complacent of the freebies that are being offered and she feels that coming from a background where
you worked hard for everything that you can in this country you have opportunities that you don't in
other places. But you still have to go out and work and look for a job even if you don't have one you
have to make it happen.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: And she says—
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: And not to forget who got you there, who opened the doors for your opportunities that
it's people like herself and Cesar Chavez that short little guy—dark little guy who did so much for so
many people, not to forget where you came from and not to forget who got you there and how you got
there to remember that forever [Foreign language being spoken].
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: Don’t give up. Don’t give up. [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: and she’s saying—
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So she's saying also for the women educate yourselves, work hard.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: She said she feels like even herself sometimes people don't take her anywhere because
she has difficulty walking and it’s uh—as a result of many things over the years, but her encouragement
to the women, to young ladies is not to give up and to continue. And she notices and she's realized that
there's a whole lot of a new generation of women being involved, being up front and making inroads
and trailblazers in our community. [Foreign language being spoken] do you have any thoughts about
going back to Mexico?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So you do have desires to go back, but not to stay because you feel like this is it. This is
where I'm going to be for the rest of my life, brothers that have passed away, many important in her life
are no longer here, yet this is her home now [Foreign language being spoken].
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: She’s—
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: --She's very high and very strong on education. She feels that if you don't and she
mentions throughout is that if you don't pursue your education and become educated that you are
going to be dummied down and people will do what they want with you because you don't know, you're
not aware. And [Foreign language being spoken] what kind of things do you have for the future?
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So she said—
>> Maria Dolores Lopes: [Foreign language being spoken]
>> Willie Lopez: So her desire is at this point that although she is at times not able to continue in the
manner that she can physically she wants God to give her the ability and the avenue to be able to
continue doing things she wishes to do, such as being involved still with activities whether it's
membership in the union or otherwise and provide the advice of saying, you know what don't give up.
And sometimes she—she wants to be there just to make sure that history is being recited that she
provides the accuracy of what history was.
>> Maria Dolores Lopez: Thank you.