- Collection:
- Civil Rights in Black and Brown
- Title:
- Oral History Interview with Hilda Martinez, July 15, 2016
- Creator:
- Enriquez, Sandra
Rodriguez, Samantha
Martinez, Hilda - Date of Original:
- 2016-07-15
- Subject:
- Persons
Ethnic groups
Civil rights - People:
- Martinez, Hilda
- Location:
- United States, Texas, Harris County, Baytown, 29.7355, -94.97743
- Medium:
- oral histories (literary works)
biographies (literary works)
interviews - Type:
- MovingImage
- Format:
- video/mp4
- Description:
- Hilda C. Martinez was born in 1948 in San Luis, San Luis Potosi. Her family migrated to the United States in 1952 and eventually settled in Baytown. In 1961, when Martinez was twelve years old, her mother passed away from breast cancer and she and her siblings subsequenly lived with several foster families. She attended Lorenzo De Zavala Elementary, the Mexican School of Baytown, and had a culture shock when she attended the integrated Baytown Junior High due to her inability to cultivate friendships as well as her lack of familiarity with the English language. She witnessed segregated public facilities, including department stores and water fountains, and the beating of a man by police when she was in high school. She talks about how teacher beatings in elementary school taught her and other Mexican American children to be obedient and to stay in their place in Baytown. Martinez also discusses how Mexican Americans were reluctant to address employment discrimination at Exxon for fear of losing good paying jobs. She addresses the police brutality case of Luis Alfonso Torres and how she worked with others in a cross-racial coalition to hold the police chief accountable, even though many members of Mexican American community were unwilling to speak out. Lastly, Martinez talks about the editorials that she has written and how she and her husband have advocated on the behalf of Latina/o families that experience issues within the Goose Creek school system.
- Metadata URL:
- https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth987522/
- Language:
- eng
- Extent:
- 8 video recordings (1 hr., 42 min., 18 sec.) : sd., col.
- Original Collection:
- https://crbb.tcu.edu/interviews/interview-with-hilda-martinez
- Contributing Institution:
- University of North Texas. Libraries
- Rights:
-
