- Collection:
- Civil Rights in Black and Brown
- Title:
- Oral History Interview with Diana Salgado, July 29, 2016
- Creator:
- Sinta, Vinicio
Arionus, Steve
Salgado, Diana - Date of Original:
- 2016-07-29
- Subject:
- Persons
Ethnic groups
Civil rights - People:
- Salgado, Diana
- Location:
- United States, Texas, Val Verde County, Del Rio, 29.36273, -100.89676
- Medium:
- oral histories (literary works)
biographies (literary works)
interviews - Type:
- MovingImage
- Format:
- video/mp4
- Description:
- Diana Salgado grew up in the Barrio Chihuahua area of Del Rio in the 1940s. She recalled the discrimination in public spaces in the city (movie theaters, soda fountains…) and how the operators of these places would sometimes try to give her preferential treatment over other Mexican Americans due to her fair skin. Salgado married and dropped out of school shortly before her expected graduation; after spending some years in Arizona, her husband and her moved to San Jose, California, where she found a job in a fruit cannery. In her years working at the cannery, Salgado and her family witnessed the height of the farm workers' movement, and joined the boycotts (her husband was a union member). During her time at the cannery, she also realized the discriminatory practices against line workers and other unsavory actions by the management. She later quit the cannery and became a licensed realtor; after retiring, her family moved back to Texas, eventually resettling in Del Rio. She became involved with local politics through the Democratic Party; she was the chair of the Val Verde Co. committee and ran for several local posts. As leader of the local Democrats, in 2009 she challenged the San Felipe Del Rio Consolidated Independent School District superintendent's decision to not screen President Obama's State of the Union speech to students at the local schools. Salgado was one of the founders of the commemorative marches in Del Rio to celebrate the life and work of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Cesar Chavez, and is a collaborator of the yearly Del Rio Juneteenth celebration.
- Metadata URL:
- https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth992332/
- Language:
- eng
- Extent:
- 6 video recordings (1 hr., 31 min., 54 sec.) : sd., col.
- Contributing Institution:
- University of North Texas. Libraries
- Rights:
-
