West Side

Interview with Agapito Juan Maya about his his life and work. He discusses his roots in the Otomi Indians of central Mexico, his father's immigration to Iowa and later Kansas City following railroad work, and being kidnapped by his father when his mother refused to leave for the United States. He also recalls his school experiences in Iowa, helping and translating for other Mexican immigrants, working as a railroad electrician in Illinois, moving to the Kansas City area in the early 1950s, and working in Mexico as a retiree in the 1970s. He also shares information about his family, his interests, and his travles.

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 Taqueria Mexico owner Arturo Romo about his experience with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Greater Kansas City. He recalls moving to Kansas City in 1992, opening his restaurant in 1993 with the assistance of Hector Barreto, Sr., becoming a member of the chamber a few years later, and being invited to join the board of directors. He discusses the social and banking connections he was able to make through the chamber, expanding to new locations, and bringing his family to join him in Kansas City.

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 Chris Medina about his life in Kansas City and his role with the Guadalupe Center. He recalls coming to the Westside neighborhood Kansas City as a young child after being born in Mexico City, and describes his Catholic education and businesses and redevelopment in the neighborhood. He also discusses the role the Guadalupe Center played in his life growing up, and returning to work there as a youth coordinator, and later director, as an adult.

Interview with Dos Mundos newspaper founder Clara Reyes about her life and her experience with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Greater Kansas City. She recalls immigrating to the Kansas City area from Guadalajara, Mexico, to join family, her work in dentistry and real estate, being the niece of Hector Barreto, founder of the local and national Hispanic chambers of commerce. She discusses Barreto's interest in advocating for the Hispanic business community, early members of the chamber, covering chamber activities in Dos Mundos, and Rockhurst and Penn Valley colleges working with the chamber to offer scholarships to minority students. She also discusses Barreto's role in the founding of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, originally located in Kansas City, and its move to Washington, DC, the local chamber's role in helping small businesses access bank loans and encouraging entrepreneurship, and lists the Kansas City chamber's presidents from its founding to the present.

Interview with IMAGE president and Rockhurst High School teacher Dan Torres about his life and work. Born in 1949, he recounts his early life being raised by supportive grandparents in Las Vegas, New Mexico, working as an agricultural laborer during the summer, and his family's distrust of English-speaking priests. He discusses being expelled from New Mexico Highlands University after a a protest with a Chicano political organization, moving to Kansas City at the age of 20 to study for the priesthood, completing his religious education, and ultimately deciding he was called to be a teacher and not a priest. He went on to work at Westport High School, the Guadalupe Parish Center, and Rockhurst High School, worked in other capacities with young people in the East Bottoms and Westside neighborhoods, and discusses his involvement with IMAGE and other organizations and shares his concerns about Westside development.

Interview with Dolores Rodriquez, born in 1935, about her life in Kansas City's Westside neighborhood. She recalls the neighborhood of her childhood, attending Adams and Switzer schools, attending the Guadalupe Church, and big fiestas put on by the Guadalupe Center. She also discusses Westside businesses and people, her memories of World War II and the 1951 flood, having to leave jobs due to pregnancy, and later opening a restaurant with her husband Gilbert. She also recalls participating in the annual fiesta at Crown Center, and shares stories of her father's work as a healer.

Interview with Esperanza Amayo about her life as a daughter of Mexican-American immigrants in Kansas City, Kansas, during the Great Depression; about her brother, friends, and neighbors being drafted into the military; and the discrimination she and other local Mexican-Americans faced in the community. She also discusses her husband Lou's service in the army and his experience at the Battle of the Bulge, and the assimilation of Mexican-American families in the United States.

Interview with Estella Morales about her life and her experience with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Greater Kansas City. She recounts getting involved with the chamber in the late 1980s as a liaison from City Hall, and was later elected to the board. She describes the chamber at that point as being mostly a social and promotional club that continued to grow in its outreach and business development efforts over the years, and their success in getting the greater business community to recognize what the value of the local Hispanic community. She recalls the work of leaders including CiCi Rojas, Miguel Meneses, and Charles Delgado, shares memories of Hector Barreto and his work with the local and national Hispanic chambers, and describes chamber programs including KC BizFest and Latinos of Tomorrow and the increasing role of women in the organization.