Chicano/a Research Collection

In this recording, Dora Quesada discusses her career, including her experiences as a military nurse, time as a civilian nurse, and later work as a public school teacher. Among the subjects she covers are racism in the medical and educational fields; conflicts with other medical professionals; the breakdown in relationships between parents, teachers, and school boards beginning in the 1960s, which she attributes to defensiveness on the part of parents; teaching methods and class sizes; political issues involved in teaching; and advocacy to end exploitation of and improve conditions for students.

In this interview, Dora Quesada discusses her family's history in Arizona and work in cattle ranching, mining, and freighting; her education; learning English and her family's use of Spanish and English; religion; her career as a military nurse, civilian nurse, and public school teacher; racism in the medical and educational fields; her political activity and work to oppose the Gosnell land swap; and her interest in and work to preserve Arizona's Mexican-American history.

This three-part program traces Chicano heritage and influence in Arizona's history between the 1600s and the 1950s. It begins with a consideration of Mexican immigrants' role in pioneering Arizona's first non-Indigenous settlements, discusses these settlers' conflicts with Indigenous peoples and Anglo settlers, recounts Mexican-American contributions to Arizona's economic growth, chronicles rising racism towards, discrimination against, and segregation of Mexican-Americans, and finally studies Mexican-American work to secure equal rights.

"Part I: The Pioneer" discusses Mexican immigration into what is now the American Southwest, beginning with the missions established in the late 1600s. It goes on to discuss relationships between Mexican-Americans and Indigenous peoples (including numerous conflicts with the Apache), development of agricultural enterprises, conflicts with Anglo-American settlers, the growth of the freighting and ranching industries, the construction of the Southern Pacific Railroad and its impact, the growth of and racism in the mining industry, issues surrounding land grants, and the settlement of Florence, Safford, Solomon, Concho, St. Johns, and Round Valley. This section ends with a discussion of rising racial tensions and the founding of the Alianza Hispano Americana.

"Part II: The Struggle" discusses Anglo efforts to retain political control of Arizona in spite of the Mexican-American majority in the area, formation of trade unions and fraternal organizations designed to counter discrimination and segregation, increased Mexican immigration in response to labor shortages in the 1910s and subsequent Anglo attempts to exclude the immigrants from political participation and the labor pool, strikes designed to improve working conditions and secure fair wages in the mining industry, the Bisbee deportation and resulting decline in union activity, scapegoating of the Mexican-American population for the Great Depression, and efforts to convince Mexican-Americans to emigrate to Mexico during the 1930s.

"Part III: The Reform" discusses segregation of and other types of discrimination against Mexican-Americans in the 1930s and 1940s; Mexican-American service in the Armed Forces during World War II, where they became the most decorated ethnic group; returning veterans' formation of unions and other organizations designed to fight discrimination, segregation, and other racially motivated injustices; work to desegregate unions and the Mine-Mill Union's work to end discrimination against Mexican-American miners; the bracero program and labor organization in the agricultural industry; and desegregation of schools and such other public facilities as swimming pools, dance halls, and theatres.