ELVIRA is the POIGNANT LIFE STORY OF A GIRL whose family IMMIGRATED TO THE UNITED STATES to escape the violence of the MEXICAN REVOLUTION (1910-1921).

- Her father, Jacobo Chávez, first found WORK ON THE RAILROAD in Texas and far-away states.

- Remaining in El Paso, the WOMEN were obliged to LIVE IN CRAMPED BOXCARS WITH THEIR CHILDREN and to SEEK WORK AS DOMESTICS.

- Later, her father found a better paying job in the MEAT-PACKING PLANTS OF KANSAS CITY.

- Fatefully, the Chavezes were then RECRUITED TO SCOTTSBLUFF, NEBRASKA where the ENTIRE FAMILY - some as young as five years old - LABORED IN THE SUGAR-BEET AND POTATO FIELDS.

Elvira weaves into her FAMILY HISTORY heartrending stories of BACKBREAKING LABOR, ILLNESS AND DEATH, and the challenges of RACISM and of LIFE BETWEEN TWO VERY DIFFERENT CULTURES.

- TUBERCULOSIS strikes several family members.

- Poisonings from BOOTLEG WHISKEY.

- RACIAL CONFLICT with Anglo-Americans and Blacks.

- SUPPRESSION OF SPANISH by teachers.

- Severe RESTRICTIONS ON GIRLS' BEHAVIOR.

- CONTROL of family members BY PATRIARCHAL MEN.

- MEXICAN CULTURAL PRACTICES: courtship and marriage; festive celebrations.

Now married, Elvira and her husband Maique STRIVE TO MAKE A BETTER LIFE for their family.

- Maique frees himself from his FATHER'S DOMINATION.

- After many years of day labor, they manage to rent their own farm and BECOME SHARECROPPERS.

- HER CHILDREN graduate and leave home to FIND MEANINGFUL LIVES IN AMERICAN SOCIETY.

Elvira ENDURES THE EARLY DEATHS of her husband and two of her sons. She STRUGGLES TO SURVIVE in the face of a meager education and her lack of skills other than farm work.

- She is forced to take a series of menial jobs to SUPPORT TWO YOUNG SONS.

- She seeks out and becomes successful in positions ADVOCATING FOR MIGRANT FARMWORKERS, ORGANIZING A WOMEN'S SENIOR CENTER, AND SERVING AS A "FOSTER GRANDMOTHER" IN A MIGRANT CHILD CARE CENTER.

Elvira RETIRES AT AGE 89.

- She spends her summers WORKING IN HER VEGETABLE GARDEN and TENDING HER BELOVED FLOWERS.

- In 2012, ELVIRA DIES AT home at the age of 102.

Formato	Tapa suave
Número de Páginas	458
Lenguaje	Español
Editorial	Ediciones Lengua y Cultura
Fecha de Publicación	2017-12-07
Dimensiones	8.5" x 5.5" x 1.02" pulgadas
Letra Grande	No
Con Ilustraciones	Si
Temas	Femenino

Hernandez Chavez, Eduardo

EDUARDO HERNÁNDEZ CHÁVEZ obtained his Ph.D. at UC Berkeley and held academic positions at UC Berkeley, Stanford University, California State University Sacramento, and most recently the UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO as an ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF LINGUISTICS AND DIRECTOR OF CHICANA/O STUDIES until his retirement in 2002. He has PUBLISHED NUMEROUS WORKS IN LINGUISTICS and SOCIOLINGUISTICS, among them a seminal anthology of Chicana/o linguistics: EL LENGUAJE DE LOS CHICANOS: Regional and social characteristics of language used by Mexican Americans. He has also compiled several publications in CHILDREN'S LITERATURE, MUSIC, MEMOIRS and GENEALOGY. Eduardo worked in the SUGAR-BEET FIELDS of Scottsbluff, Nebraska for ten years beginning at age eleven. As a result of this experience, he became involved in CHICANO COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES throughout his career, including those dealing with MIGRANT EDUCATION, land-grant and LANGUAGE RIGHTS ISSUES in New Mexico, and CHICANA/O STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS. In Sacramento, CA, he was the Director of the Migrant Farmworker Rights Project. Since the 1960's, Eduardo has been active in SUPPORT OF THE FARMWORKERS' STRUGGLE in California. In Albuquerque, NM, he was one of the founders of the RECUERDA A CESAR CHAVEZ COMMITTEE, a group that continues to commemorate the work of Chávez and of DOLORES HUERTA.

Hernandez, Elvira C.

1916 when ELVIRA CHAVEZ was six years old, her family IMMIGRATED TO THE UNITED STATES to escape the violence of the MEXICAN REVOLUTION. Her father quickly found WORK ON THE RAILROAD in EL PASO, TEXAS; then in the MEAT-PACKING PLANTS of KANSAS CITY; and finally on the FARMS of SCOTTSBLUFF, NEBRASKA. Elvira began working in the SUGAR BEET AND POTATO FIELDS at eleven years of age, continuing that BACKBREAKING LABOR for nearly fifty years when her husband Maique died. For a time, she worked as a kitchen assistant in the schools. Then, she became an ADVOCATE FOR MIGRANT FARMWORKERS with a community action center, founded a WOMEN'S SENIOR CENTER, and worked as a foster grandmother in a day care center. All her life since she was nine years old, she was responsible for MAKING ALL THE TORTILLAS for her large family and for boarders in their household. Ultimately, after 80 years as a TORTILLERA, she was estimated to have made over ONE MILLION TORTILLAS.