Jos\u00e9 Luis S\u00e1mano was born in Irapuato, Guanajuato on March 26, 1939. He remained there for the first six years of his life. \u201cIt was a great time,\u201d he said of those early years. \u201cMy dad had a good job in Irapuato so we were pretty wealthy, high society there. But he died when I was five years old…my mom had seven kids so that\u2019s when we started having problems. It was hard for my mom to be able to support all of us…one of my older brothers decided to go to Mexico City with one of his godparents to work in their grocery store.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Luis was seven he moved to Mexico City with his mother and six siblings, where the family crowded into a twelve-by-twelve foot room. Luis immediately took an after-school job at the grocery store where his brother worked. He eventually grew tired of working at the store and found work at a car dealership. He went to school to learn how to be a mechanic and came to specialize in repairing automatic transmissions, which were new at the time.<\/p>\n
In 1960, when Luis was 20 years old, he traveled across the border through Tijuana to go to work with his cousin, Juan, who owned a dealership in Los Angeles. When his cousin picked him up, he informed Luis that they were not going to Los Angeles, but instead were driving to Oregon. \u201cHe wanted to come to Oregon because he knew a family, the Bergs, and he had a crush on one of the girls. My cousin met the family when he gave them a tour of Mexico City. So he told me he was going to Oregon. Of course in Mexico we never knew what Oregon was. What we knew then was Los Angeles and Texas and New York, you know the big things, but Oregon, never.\u201d<\/p>\n
So Luis and his cousin Juan drove north, all the way to Alvadore, Oregon, where they stayed on the Berg farm for a few days and then drove on to Portland. They stayed and ended up finding work at a Volkswagen dealership. Luis also began dating one of the Berg girls, Nancy, who became his first wife. Luis applied for and received a green card through the dealership.<\/p>\n
Luis then moved to Eugene where he worked at a Buick dealership on Olive St. When Luis looked around Eugene in 1960, it was very white: \u201cEveryone was all Anglo people. The only people of color I saw at that time were way over on West 11th. That\u2019s where the Black people used to live. The first time I saw a brown face was at St. Mary\u2019s Catholic Church. I was so happy to finally see a brown face that I could relate to. I went to try and talk to the man in Spanish and he looked at me and said, \u201cNo. I don\u2019t speak Spanish. I am from New York,\u201d And that was the end of it. I was really demoralized because it was the first time I\u2019d seen someone who might speak Spanish.\u201d<\/p>\n
Luis continued to work at the car dealership and to date Nancy. \u201cNancy used to go and pick green beans to get extra money. She asked me if I wanted to go with her and I said, \u201cyeah,\u201d for fun. So I went and started picking beans. I don\u2019t know what they sprayed on those beans, but I got a real big rash and that was the first and last time I ever picked beans.\u201d<\/p>\n
Luis recalled that Springfield was full of farms, and that high school kids would go and pick green beans and other crops, and then spend their money at the Lane County Fair. During this period Luis also worked with a high school teacher to improve his English and made many friends in Eugene. He then took classes in English and automotive mechanics at Lane Community College. He became an American citizen after taking classes at LCC.<\/p>\n
When Nancy Berg finished high school, she and Luis were married at the Catholic Church in Springfield. Their first son, Michael, was born in 1964. At that time, one of Luis\u2019s coworkers decided to return to Mississippi and sold his house to Luis. They had a second child, Debbie, in 1970. Luis went to work for the 4-J School District. After more than ten years of marriage, Luis and Nancy divorced and Luis became a single father. He later met Ema P\u00e9rez during mass at the St. Thomas More Newman Center at the University of Oregon.<\/p>\n
Ema P\u00e9rez was born in Cotulla, Texas on August 11, 1945. Ema\u2019s mother was born and raised in Mexico in a small rural town; her father was raised in Texas.<\/p>\n
Ema\u2019s mother\u2019s family raised animals on a small farm. They also owned a store where they sold items such as rice, sugar and coffee. Ema\u2019s parents married in secret, most likely to due an anti-Catholic movement that prevailed in Mexico at the time.<\/p>\n
Growing up in Texas, Ema found that people of Mexican descent were segregated from whites in restaurants, buses, and other public places. She remembers sitting as a child in the \u201cColored\u201d section: \u201cColored meant Mexicans, Indians, and African-Americans.\u201d Ema remembers her family working very hard in Cotulla and elsewhere.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had six brothers. I was one of the youngest yet I had to work as hard as the rest of them. I always was doing something to help out. When my Dad couldn\u2019t get work, he\u2019d take all of his kids out with our old horse and wagon to cut wood and sell it to the neighbors. We would go around to different towns near San Antonio—Beeville, Dallas, Corpus Christi, Mathis, Kingsville…and cut wood and sell it around town or we would work gleaning corn for the farmers. I remember in Tyler, Texas, the farmer let us stay in this big warehouse. There were pinball machines in this warehouse. We worked there for two weeks. The reason I remember that is because my youngest sister died. I had two little sisters after me, but both died when they were babies. We worked there and as soon as we buried her, we left. Then we went to another little town and worked there and then we left. We moved on to another place after that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ema began working at the age of six, starting with carrying water and moving on to picking cotton and other crops. \u201cWe lived in migrant camp in Tulare, California…we picked grapes there. Then in Riverside we picked oranges and plums, and in Paris, California, we picked watermelons and onions. Then we went to the state of Washington to harvest sugar beets.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ema came to Oregon in about 1958 at about the age of twelve. She and her family worked in Keizer and lived in a migrant camp by the Willamette River. They picked hops, beans, and other crops. During that time her brother contracted tuberculosis. . The entire family was tested and Ema, her dad and two nieces were then diagnosed with TB and were interned in the Marion County Tuberculosis & Health Center.. \u201cIt took our family almost a year to get better. My dad and one brother were in the hospital even longer. They had to take part of my Dad\u2019s lung out. After that we moved to Silverton. We would go to the Mexican movies that were shown in Woodburn on Wednesdays.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ema graduated from high school in Silverton and came to Eugene in 1965. She was recruited to the Upward Bound Program at the University of Oregon. \u201cThey recruited what they called \u2018disadvantaged\u2019 students, including African-Americans, Native Americans, whites, and Latinos. In fact, there were five Mexican guys and me.\u201d Ema completed her B.A. at the University of Oregon in 1972 and a Master\u2019s Degree in 1974. Ema had her daughter Consuela in 1975.<\/p>\n
Ema met Luis S\u00e1mano in 1977. They first saw one another at mass at the St. Thomas More Newman Center at the University of Oregon. Luis asked Ema out to lunch. They got along and about six months later they got married. They each had a house and children and decided to consolidate their property, put their families together, and move to Alvadore. Luis started working for the 4-J School System. Ema worked in family services for the state.<\/p>\n
Luis retired in 2001 but has remained active in Lane Community College, teaching at the Puertas Abiertas, (Open Door) Program, Rites of Passage. Ema retired from Adult and Family Services with the State of Oregon in 2003. They continue to be active in issues of concern to the Latino community such as voter registration, anti-immigrant state ballot measures, and bilingual access and education.<\/p>\n
Their children have assumed professional positions in the education and health fields in the Eugene-Springfield area. Michael Samano is the head of the Ethnic Studies Program at Lane Community College and completed a Doctorate in Education at Oregon State University in 2007. Debbie Samano- Hopper is a nurse in the psychiatric unit at Sacred Heart Hospital in Eugene. Consuela Perez-Jeffris was Assistant Director at the Office of Multicultural Affairs at the University of Oregon and is now working at the UO Associated Students Executive Office at the EMU.<\/p>\n
Jos\u00e9 Luis S\u00e1mano naci\u00f3 en Irapuato, Guanajuato el 26 de marzo de 1939. Vivi\u00f3 all\u00ed durante los primeros 6 a\u00f1os de su vida. \u201cEra una buena \u00e9poca\u201d, dijo de esos primeros a\u00f1os, \u201cmi padre ten\u00eda un buen empleo en Irapuato, as\u00ed que \u00e9ramos bastante pr\u00f3speros, de la alta sociedad de all\u00ed. Pero \u00e9l muri\u00f3 cuando yo ten\u00eda 5 a\u00f1os de edad… mi mam\u00e1 tuvo siete hijos, as\u00ed que fue entonces cuando empezaron los problemas. Para ella era muy dif\u00edcil mantenernos a todos… uno de mis hermanos mayores decidi\u00f3 irse a la Ciudad de M\u00e9xico con sus padrinos para trabajar en su tienda de abarrotes\u201d.<\/p>\n
Cuando Luis ten\u00eda 7 a\u00f1os se mud\u00f3 a la Ciudad de M\u00e9xico con su madre y seis hermanos, donde la familia se instal\u00f3 en un sobrepoblado cuarto de 4 por 4 metros. Luis inmediatamente empez\u00f3 a trabajar en las tardes despu\u00e9s de la escuela en la tienda donde ya trabajaba su hermano. Finalmente se cans\u00f3 de trabajar en la tienda y encontr\u00f3 empleo en un negocio de venta de autos. Estudi\u00f3 para mec\u00e1nico y se especializ\u00f3 en la reparaci\u00f3n de transimisiones autom\u00e1ticas, que en esa \u00e9poca eran muy nuevas. En 1960, cuando Luis ten\u00eda 20 a\u00f1os, cruz\u00f3 la frontera por Tijuana para ir a trabajar con su primo Juan, quien era due\u00f1o de una concesionaria de autos en Los \u00c1ngeles. Cuando su primo fue a recogerlo, le inform\u00f3 a Luis que no se dirig\u00edan a Los \u00c1ngeles, sino a Oreg\u00f3n. \u201c\u00c9l quer\u00eda venir a Oreg\u00f3n porque conoc\u00eda a una familia de apellido Berg, y estaba enamorado de una de sus hijas… Mi primo conoci\u00f3 a la familia en una ocasi\u00f3n en que fungi\u00f3 como su gu\u00eda cuando ellos visitaron la Ciudad de M\u00e9xico. As\u00ed que me dijo que se iba a Oreg\u00f3n. Claro que en M\u00e9xico no sab\u00edamos d\u00f3nde quedaba Oreg\u00f3n. Lo que conoc\u00edamos en esa \u00e9poca eran Los \u00c1ngeles, Texas y Nueva York, ya sabes, los lugares grandes, pero Oreg\u00f3n nunca.\u201d<\/p>\n
As\u00ed que Luis y su primo Juan se fueron manejando hasta Alvadore, Oreg\u00f3n, donde se quedaron en la granja de los Berg unos d\u00edas, y despu\u00e9s continuaron hacia Portland. Se quedaron all\u00ed, y acabaron encontrando trabajo en una concesionaria de la Volkswagen. Luis tambi\u00e9n comenz\u00f3 a salir con una de las chicas Berg, Nancy, quien se convirti\u00f3 en su primera esposa. Luis solicit\u00f3 su tarjeta verde por medio de su empleo en la concesionaria, y la obtuvo. Luis despu\u00e9s se mud\u00f3 a Eugene, donde trabaj\u00f3 en la concesionaria de la Buick en la calle Olive. Cuando Luis miraba a la gente en Eugene en 1960, eran todos muy blancas: \u201cTodo el mundo era anglo. La \u00fanica gente de color que yo ve\u00eda en esa \u00e9poca viv\u00eda hasta all\u00e1 en la West 11th. All\u00ed era donde resid\u00edan los afroamericanos… La primera vez que vi una cara morena fue en la Iglesia Episcopal St. Mary\u2019s… Estaba tan contento de ver una cara morena con la cual identificarme. Fui a hablarle al se\u00f1or en espa\u00f1ol, y se me qued\u00f3 viendo y me dijo, \u2018No, no hablo espa\u00f1ol, soy de Nueva York\u2019, y fue todo. Estaba realmente desilusionado, porque era la primera vez que ve\u00eda a alguien que pod\u00eda haber hablado espa\u00f1ol.\u201d<\/p>\n
Luis continu\u00f3 trabajando en la concesionaria de autos y saliendo con Nancy. \u201cNancy sol\u00eda ir a cosechar ejotes para tener un poco m\u00e1s de ingresos. Me pregunt\u00f3 si quer\u00eda ir con ella, y dije que s\u00ed, nom\u00e1s por divertirme. As\u00ed que fui y comenc\u00e9 a cosechar ejotes. No s\u00e9 qu\u00e9 les hab\u00edan echado a esas plantas, pero el caso es que me dio una terrible reacci\u00f3n en la piel, y fue la \u00faltima vez que cosech\u00e9 ejotes.\u201d Luis recuerda que hab\u00eda muchas granjas en Springfield, y que los chicos del bachillerato (high school) iban a cosechar ejotes y otras hortalizas, luego se gastaban sus ganancias en la Feria del Condado de Lane. Durante esa \u00e9poca, Luis tambi\u00e9n trabaj\u00f3 con una maestra de bachillerato para mejorar su ingl\u00e9s e hizo muchas amistades en Eugene. Luego tom\u00f3 clases de ingl\u00e9s y mec\u00e1nica automotriz en Lane Community College (LCC). Se naturaliz\u00f3 como ciudadano estadounidense despu\u00e9s de tomar clases en LCC.<\/p>\n
Cuando Nancy Berg termin\u00f3 el bachillerato, Luis y ella se casaron en la iglesia cat\u00f3lica de Springfield. Su primer hijo, Michael, naci\u00f3 en 1964. En esa \u00e9poca, uno de los colegas de Luis decidi\u00f3 regresar a Missouri, y le vendi\u00f3 su casa a Luis. Tuvieron una hija, Debbie, en 1970. Luis comenz\u00f3 a trabajar en el Distrito Escolar 4-J. Despu\u00e9s de m\u00e1s de 10 a\u00f1os de casados, Luis y Nancy se divorciaron y Luis se convirti\u00f3 en padre soltero. M\u00e1s adelante conoci\u00f3 a Ema P\u00e9rez durante la misa en el Centro Newman. Ema P\u00e9rez naci\u00f3 en Cotulla, Texas el 11 de agosto de 1945. La madre de Ema naci\u00f3 y creci\u00f3 en un peque\u00f1o pueblo rural de M\u00e9xico; su padre creci\u00f3 en Texas. La familia de la madre de Ema criaba ganado en una granja peque\u00f1a. Tambi\u00e9n ten\u00edan una tienda en la que vend\u00edan v\u00edveres, como arroz, az\u00facar y caf\u00e9. Los padres de Ema se casaron en secreto, probablemente debido al movimiento anticat\u00f3lico que predominaba en M\u00e9xico en esa \u00e9poca. Habiendo crecido en Texas, Ema encontr\u00f3 que las personas de origen mexicano eran discriminadas en los restaurantes, autobuses, y otros sitios p\u00fablicos. Ella recuerda haberse sentado de ni\u00f1a en la secci\u00f3n para \u201cla gente de color\u201d. \u201cGente de color significaba mexicanos, ind\u00edgenas y afroamericanos\u201d. Ema recuerda que su familia trabaj\u00f3 muy duro en Cotulla y en todas partes.<\/p>\n
\u201cTuve 6 hermanos. Yo era una de las menores, pero ten\u00eda que trabajar tan duro como todos los dem\u00e1s. Siempre estaba haciendo algo para ayudar. Cuando mi pap\u00e1 no pod\u00eda conseguir trabajo, se llevaba a todos sus hijos… en nuestro vag\u00f3n tirado por un caballo… a cortar le\u00f1a y se la vend\u00eda a los vecinos. \u00cdbamos a varios pueblos vecinos… Corpus Christi, Mathis, Kingsville… a cortar le\u00f1a y venderla. O trabaj\u00e1bamos para los granjeros pizcando el ma\u00edz sobrante. Recuerdo que en Tyler, Texas el granjero nos dej\u00f3 quedarnos en su almac\u00e9n. Hab\u00eda m\u00e1quinas para jugar al \u201cpinball\u201d. Trabajamos all\u00ed dos semanas. La raz\u00f3n por la que lo recuerdo es que se muri\u00f3 mi hermana. Yo tuve dos hermanas menores, pero ambas murieron cuando eran beb\u00e9s. Trabajamos all\u00ed, y en cuanto la sepultamos, nos fuimos. Luego fuimos a otro pueblito, trabajamos y nos marchamos. Luego fuimos a otro lugar, y as\u00ed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ema comenz\u00f3 a trabajar a la edad de 6 a\u00f1os, empezando por acarrear agua, y m\u00e1s tarde cosechando algod\u00f3n y otros cultivos. \u201cVivimos en un campamento de trabajadores migrantes en Tulare, California… donde cosech\u00e1bamos uvas. Luego en Riverside pizcamos naranjas y ciruelas, y en Paradise, California, sand\u00edas y cebolla. Luego nos fuimos al estado de Washington a pizcar remolacha azucarera.\u201d Ema lleg\u00f3 a Oreg\u00f3n alrededor de 1958, como a los 12 a\u00f1os. Ella y su familia trabajaban en Keizer y vivieron en un campamento de migrantes por el r\u00edo Willamette. Cosechaban l\u00fapulo, frijol, y otros cultivos. Durante esa \u00e9poca su hermano contrajo tuberculosis. La familia entera se someti\u00f3 a la prueba de la tuberculosis y Ema, su padre y dos sobrinas resultaron estar contagiados y tuvieron que ser internados en el Centro de Salud especializado en tuberculosis del Condado de Marion. \u201cLe tom\u00f3 a nuestra familia casi un a\u00f1o sanar. Mi padre y un hermano estuvieron en el hospital a\u00fan m\u00e1s tiempo. Tuvieron que extraerle parte de un pulm\u00f3n a mi padre… Despu\u00e9s de eso nos mudamos a Silverton. Los mi\u00e9rcoles \u00edbamos a Woodburn a ver pel\u00edculas mexicanas.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ema se gradu\u00f3 del bachillerato (high school) en Silverton y se mud\u00f3 a Eugene en 1965. Fue reclutada para el programa Upward Bound de la Universidad de Oreg\u00f3n. \u201cReclutaban a estudiantes \u2018marginalizados\u2019, y supuestamente ah\u00ed iban incluidos los negros, los ind\u00edgenas, blancos marginados y latinos. De hecho, \u00e9ramos 5 muchachos mexicanos y yo\u201d. Ema termin\u00f3 su licenciatura en la Universidad de Oreg\u00f3n en 1972 y una Maestr\u00eda en 1974. Ema tuvo a su hija Consuela en 1975. Ema conoci\u00f3 a Luis S\u00e1mano en 1977. Se vieron por primera vez durante la misa en el Centro Newman de la Universidad de Oreg\u00f3n. Luis invit\u00f3 a Ema a comer. Se llevaron muy bien y se casaron seis meses despu\u00e9s. Cada uno ten\u00eda casa e hijos, as\u00ed que decidieron consolidar sus bienens, juntar a sus familias, y mudarse a Alvadore. Luis comenz\u00f3 a trabajar en el Distrito Escolar 4-J, y Ema trabajaba en los servicios para familias del estado.<\/p>\n
Luis se jubil\u00f3 en el 2001 pero se ha mantenido activo en Lane Community College, dando clases en el Programa Puertas Abiertas, Ritos de Iniciaci\u00f3n. Ema se jubil\u00f3 de su empleo en Servicios a Adultos y Familias con el Estado de Oreg\u00f3n en el 2003. Ambos contin\u00faan trabajando en temas relacionados a la comunidad latina, como son el registro de votaci\u00f3n, la legislaci\u00f3n anti- inmigrantes, y el acceso igualitario a la educaci\u00f3n, as\u00ed como la educaci\u00f3n biling\u00fce. Sus hijos ocupan puestos profesionales en el \u00e1mbito de la educaci\u00f3n y la salud en Eugene-Springfield. Michael S\u00e1mano es director del Programa de Estudios \u00c9tnicos en Lane Community College, y est\u00e1 cursando su Doctorado en Educaci\u00f3n en la Universidad de Oreg\u00f3n. Debbie S\u00e1mano-Hopper es enfermera en la unidad psiqui\u00e1trica del Hospital Sacred Heart en Eugene. Consuela P\u00e9rez-Jefferis fue Directora Asistente de la Oficina de Asuntos Multiculturales de la Universidad de Oreg\u00f3n y ahora trabaja en la Oficina Ejecutiva de los Estudiantes Asociados en el edificio de la Erb Memorial Union de la universidad.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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