California

Interview with Elaine C. Wills about her experience as an aircraft sheet metal mechanic during World War II. She discusses attending the Aviation Institute of Denver with her husband, and their move to California to work at two different aircraft manufacturers until her husband was drafted into the Army Air Corps. She mentions moves to Nebraska, Texas, and back to Kansas City, and describes her experience repairing aircraft damaged in the war and as a woman working alongside men and as a mother managing childcare while working. Elaine later worked for Luzier Cosmetics in Kansas City and was working on finishing her college degree in her 80s, and also discussed rationing, what she enjoyed in her personal time, and her education, marriage and family life.

Interview with Kansas City school board member John Rodriguez about his life in Dodge City, Kansas, and later Kansas City, Missouri. Born in 1941, he recalls growing up in a predominantly Mexican area of Dodge City where his father worked in packing houses and for the railroads, educational discrimination faced by Mexican-American students, being unable to get haircuts in Dodge City barbershops, and enlisting in the army. He also discusses visiting Kansas City and being able to see Mexican movies, attend fiestas, and buy Mexican groceries and, while discrimination existed, having access to Mexican barbers and public swimming pools. After studying Spanish and French in college, he began his teaching career in Kansas towns including Elkhart and Hutchinson, and came to Kansas City as Director of Outreach Programs for University of Missouri-Kansas City. He later worked in roles furthering educational opportunity and was elected to the Kansas City School Board in 1975.

Interview with artist Henry Montes about his life in Kansas City's Westside neighborhood. Born in 1956, he recalls the schools he attended, his mother working in the garment industry, playing sports and drawing as a young person, and later joining the Marine Corps and being stationed in California. He discusses returning to Kansas City, starting a family, getting his GED, and creating murals for the Guadalupe Center, KMBC, and having his work including in exhibitions of Latin American artists.

Interview with Josefa Parra about her life She recalls her early life in Mexico, her immigration to the United States in 1925, working at beet farms in California and Colorado, and settling in Kansas City. She discusses her history with area churches and community activities, memories of World War II and the 1951 Flood, working as a babysitter and nanny while raising her own family, and varying ability and interest in speaking family with her family, neighbors, and in schools. She shares other stories about her neighbors, her family, and Mexican history.

Interview with Asencion Hernandez about his life, work, and involvement with numerous organizations. He recalls growing up as the son of immigrants in the Topeka Mexican-American community, attending segregated Catholic schools, memories of church-centered community activities, and World War II. He also discusses attending college at Washburn in the early 1960s, earning a graduate degree in social work at University of Southern California, working for the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, and his involvement in organizations including LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens), IMAGE (Incorporated Mexican American Government Employees) and Trabajadores de la Raza, a Hispanic social worker organization.

Interview with Agustin Medina in which he discusses his youth in Mexico and his adult life as a restaurant owner and community leader in Kansas City. He recalls joining then leaving seminary, leaving Leon to play professional soccer for a number of Mexican teams, meeting and marrying his wife, and moving to Kansas City in 1953. He discusses working at the Swift packing house, moving to California to work at a relative's tortilla factory, and returning to Kansas City to open El Taquito restaurant on Southwest Boulevard. He also discusses his involvement in community organizations and the political needs of the Westside neighborhood.

Interview with Hoffman-Cortes Construction Company executive vice-president Carlos Cortes about his life. Born in 1907, Cortes recalls his mother's European Jewish background, his Mexican father's work as an engineer for Shell Oil in California, attending grammar school in Mexico, and working for the University of California library. He also discusses his interest in history of the Western United States, his evolving role in his construction businesses, life during the Great Depression, and being ineligible for the World War II draft. He also shares his views on illegal immigration, bilingualism, religion, and politics.

Interview with Jess Barbosa, Kansas City's first chef to be inducted into the American Academy of Chefs Hall of Fame. Barbosa was born on March 26, 1933, in Jackson County, Missouri. He started his culinary career by working at a grocery store formerly known as Andy's Food Market, and developed his culinary abilities further when he joined the Navy and became an essential cook responsible for feeding thousands of soldiers during the Korean War. At the time of the interview he was an executive chef at the Alameda Plaza Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri. In the interview he recalls the West Side, the 1951 flood, his time in the military, and working at the Muehlebach Hotel's kitchen. In 1976, he was voted Chef of the Year, which amazed him because only Europeans were known to get the award. Barbosa also recalls receiving two awards with the International Wedding Society for gourmet dining. At the time of the interview, Barbosa was the coordinator of the governing committee of the chef's apprenticeship program in Johnson County. Barbosa ends the interview by discussing his family and his love for the art of ice carving which embellished several hotels during holidays.

Interview with Esther Franco about her life and her work in education administration in Kansas City. She discusses her parents' roots in Mexico and Guatemala and their move to Los Angeles, and the family's moves through California due to her father's role as a minister with the Church of the Nazarene, and growing up speaking Spanish in Mexican-American communities. She recalls marrying her own minister husband, and their work with the church and as educators in California, Texas, and the Kansas City area. After working as an elementary school teacher in the Kansas City School District, she went on to develop their bilingual education program, and she shares thoughts about the needs of Hispanic and other Kansas City students and their families.