West Junior High School

Interview with Lydia Rocha Estevez about her life and Kansas City's Westside neighborhood. Born in 1919, she recalls living within a few blocks in the Westside neighborhood for over 50 years, memories of school and social activities from her youth, protesting public swimming pool segregation, the poor condition of Adams School, which served the predominantly Mexican Westside neighborhood, and being punished for speaking Spanish at school. She also discusses working with her father and brother in wheat fields during the Great Depression, working as a B-25 bomber riveter during World War II, moving away from Kansas City with her husband's job in the foreign service, and working at the Kansas City Public Library and Penn Valley Community College after their return to the area. She notes that her son, Richard Estevez, was principal of Douglass School at the time of her interview.

Two-part interview with Esther Rocha about her life and experience in Kansas City's Westside neighborhood. She recalls migrant agricultural and railroad work as motivations for her parents' immigration to the United States, Westside businesses and events, and her family life growing up. She also discusses the history of the Westside prior to it becoming a majority Mexican neighborhood, attending an "open air" elementary school, Guadalupe Center serving as housing for Rockhurst students, limitations on education and housing opportunities for the Mexican community, and not having proof of American citizenship despite being born in Texas. In part two of the interview, Rocha discusses her work with Catholic Charities and Model Cities program, attending college at Penn Valley and Avila, and her plans to retire.

Interview with Robert Hernandez about his life and his service on Kansas City's city council. Born in 1945, he describes the Westside of his youth as racially diverse and low income, the difficulties of attending segregated schools and facing discrimination and colorism, and recalls difficulties his father faced after contracting malaria in World War II. He also discusses the the limited opportunities for low-income children in the area, his multigenerational household, memories of the 1951 flood, the inequality of knowledge and government access across neighborhoods in the city, and his experience becoming the first Mexican-American elected to Kansas City's city council.