Cavazos, Tomasa 1985-09-06

General Interview Information

Interviewee Name: Tomasa Cabazos

Additional Parties Recorded:

Date: September 6, 1985

Location: Kingsville, Texas

Interviewer: Yolanda Romero

Length:

Abstract

Tape 1, Side 1: Family; Her grandparents were born in Spain and migrated to the United States; Her paternal grandparents lived in the Calavera Ranch; Her parents were born in Texas but lived in Matamoros Tamaulipas, Mexico; Because of the Mexican War of Independence her parents came back to Brownsville; Her parents met each other and got married in the King Ranch; Tomasa Cavazos; Grew up in the Radiche Ranch; She has ten brothers ; Occupation; Her father sowed cotton and corn; Her father raised cattle; Her mother sewed clothes for her family; Radiche Ranch; Was owned by his father; Her father bought the land from the Clipboards; She said that the cost was less that $40 per acre; She said that the ranch covered more than 500 acres; There was no discrimination; Workers were paid $12 a month; There was a 3-year drought.
Tape 1, Side 2: Education; Mexicans and Americans went to the same school; Teachers were bilingual; She didn’t finish school; Radiche Ranch; She said that there was a fire in the ranch;
Tape 2, Side 1: King Ranch; Her husband worked for the ranch as an administrator; The house they used to lived was built by the family King; She said that the people in the ranch spoke only Spanish; There was no discrimination; People didn’t pay any rent; The majority of workers were Mexican; Toma Cavazos moved to Kingsville.
Tape 2, Side 2: King Ranch; The ranch hired Mexican teachers to teach classes in Spanish; Family; Her husband died of pneumonia; She has five children.
Tape 3, Side 1: born October 1900 in Radiche

Range Dates: 1900-1930

Bulk Dates: 1920s

Access Information

Original Recording Format: audio cassette

Recording Format Notes: digitized; CD available in Reading Room

Transcript: drafts of Spanish and English transcripts available in Reading Room

---

Thank you for your interest in this oral history interview. Our oral history collection is available to patrons in the Southwest Collection's Reading Room, located on the campus of Texas Tech University. For reading room hours, visit our website. Please contact Reference Staff at least one week prior to your visit to ensure the oral history you are interested in will be available. Due to copyright issues, duplications of our oral histories can only be made for family members. If an oral history transcript has been made available online, the link will be provided on this page. More information on accessing our oral histories is located here. Preferred citation style can be found here.