Union Cultural Mexicana

Interview with Argentine resident Roberto Marin about his life, work, and family. Marin recalls family members immigrating from Mexico to Kansas City, Kansas, to escape the Mexican Revolution, the Mexican "El Campo" area adjacent to the Santa Fe railroad facilities in Kansas City, working in hardware stores, his move to the United States in 1955, and working as a bus boy at the Muehlebach Hotel upon his arrival in Kansas City. He discusses working for the railroad and Swift packing house, working in and owning restaurants for 33 years, and the people, events, and organizations he was involved in that preserved and celebrated Mexican culture in the Kansas City area. He also shares stories about other Mexican immigrants to Kansas City, attending the inauguration of Mexican President Portillo and other ongoing involvement in Mexican politics, and about the sister cities program.

Part one of a two-part interview with Ramon Reyes. Reyes discusses the history of the Union Cultural Mexicana and Mexican immigration to the United States beginning in the 1910s, including his own in 1917. He also discusses other organizations, including the Sociedad Mutualista Mexicana, and shares stories about other individuals and businesses in the Kansas City Mexican community. He recalls working a variety of jobs, including at Wilson and Cudahy packinghouses and cooking at Putsch's 210 restaurant, health concerns among immigrants in the 1920s, and fishing discrimination in schools and hospitals, and notes a visit to Kansas City by Eleanor Roosevelt.

Interview with Julia Gutierrez about her life She discusses her early life in Texas, Oklahoma, and later Kansas City, her difficulty in getting an education, and going to work in the Fairfax bomber factories as a "Rosie the Riveter" during World War II. She also recalls her brothers serving in World War II and the Korean War, growing up in Armourdale, and meeting her husband, Salvador Gutierrez. She also discusses working raising her family, participating in Boy and Girl Scouts with her children, and her involvement with organizations including the church, Lions Club, and Legal Aid.

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 West High and Switzer Elementary schools building manager Salvador Gutierrez about his life. Born in 1911, he recalls his family immigrating from Mexico to Kansas City's Westside neighborhood in 1920, his father and neighbors working for packinghouses and railroads, and remembers unpaved roads and wooden sidewalks in the neighborhood. He discusses his involvement in organizations and activities affiliated with the Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, playing baseball with the Azteca Club, memories of the Great Depression, the origins of the Guadalupe Center, enlisting in the army during World War II, and the influx of families from Kansas City, Kansas, during the 1951 Flood. He also shares memories of meeting his wife at a Union Cultural Mexicana fiesta and his involvement in numerous organizations including the Boy Scouts, Guadalupe Center, and the American Legion.

Interview with Catherine Reyes about her life and experience in Kansas City's Westside neighborhood. Born in 1931, she recalls her early life and education in Mexico City after being born in Independence, Kansas, their struggles during the Great Depression, her realization that she was a foreigner in Mexico, and moving to Kansas City on her own at the age of 17. She discusses working as an inspector and seamstress in a garment factory, marrying and raising children, being joined in Kansas City by her brother and mother, continuing to learn English, and going to work in the bilingual education program with Kansas City Public Schools.

Interview with Ruth Lopez about her experience growing up in a Mexican immigrant family in Kansas City's Westside neighborhood. She recalls the businesses and people of the neighborhood during her youth in the 1920s and '30s, local churches and fiestas, and meeting her husband at the Union Cultural Mexicana. She also discusses raising her family, difficulties she and her husband faced for not having American citizenship, her children's education and career paths, and her hopes for the neighborhood at the time of the interview.

Interview with Julio Cortez, Jr. about his life and family. He discusses his early childhood in Chicago, his family's return to Mexico during the Great Depression, and his and his siblings' return to the United States, moving to Kansas City in the early 1950s. He recalls working for the Armour packinghouse for 16 years, life in the Westside neighborhood, his family connection to the Mexican synarchist movement. He also discusses attending medical school, playing soccer in Guadalajara and Kansas City, his family life, working at Sam Miller Coach, and his involvement in area churches and organizations such as Union Cultural Mexicana.

Interview with Louis Soltero about his life and working at the Muehlebach Hotel. Born in 1903, he recounts his early life in Tenamaxtlan, Mexico, immigrating to Kansas City around the age of 18, and briefly working at the Cudahy packinghouse before moving on to work as a bus boy and later a waiter for the Muehlebach Hotel. He recalls his forty-five years at the Muehlebach, meeting famous guests, including actor Clark Gable, American president Harry Truman, and Mexican president Miguel Aleman, and retiring in 1967. He also discusses being a member of and serving as president of the Union Cultural Mexicana, his children, and President Truman's daughter Margaret, a well-regarded singer, performing "Cielito Lindo" for him.