This digital story recording was created in conjunction with the Smithsonian's Museum on Main Street program and its Stories from Main Street student digital storytelling initiative. The project encourages students and their mentors to research and record stories about small-towns and rural neighborhoods, waterways, personal memories, cultural traditions, work histories, as well as thoughts about American democracy. These documentaries, websites, and interviews are then shared on Smithsonian websites and social media.
Students in Marshall, Texas, worked in coordination with the Texas State Historical Association and National History to create multimedia websites that includes interviews with family, friends, and local residents. The work was supported by Museum on Main Street's Youth Access Grants in 2013-2014. In this project, a student interviews her grandmother and created a companion website to host the recordings.
Lauren (00:00): When did you first come to the United States?
Carmen Barajas Monin (00:05): I came here in January of 1963. I was 12 years old. My father had died when I was almost four years old. My mother left Mexico and came to the United States in pursuit of a brighter, better future for herself and for us too.
Carmen Barajas Monin (00:24): My mother left us with her parents. She was not financially able to bring all five children with her to the United States at once. She was making only $8 a week in a tortilla factory. So she had to continue to work and save to bring her children to be with her. In 1961, she brought the two oldest, Maria and Socorro. In 1963, she brought Francis and myself to the United States. At that time, she was working as a dishwasher in the nicest restaurant in town and was making a whole $20 a week. It was not until 1966, after my grandfather died that she finally brought my brother, a friend to be with us in Mission, Texas.
Lauren (01:19): So, you met and married my grandpa in Mission, Texas. How did you and your family end up in Marshall, Texas?
Carmen Barajas Monin (01:30): We moved to Marshall in 1977. I was married and blessed with three children at the time. We move you looking for better opportunities. And I have a sister that lives here with her family. Your grandpapa took a job as a melter in the furnace at Smith Steel Casting Company here in Marshall.
Carmen Barajas Monin (01:52): I transfer from JC Penney in McAllen, Texas to the store in Longview. I eventually took a lower position at JC Penney's in Marshall because gas had gone up to 79 cents a gallon and I couldn't afford the gas. Two years after we moved to Marshall, I had your mama.
Lauren (02:15): I can't imagine how hard that must have been moving to another country when you were only 12 years old. What was that experience like for you?
Carmen Barajas Monin (02:27): It was very hard living. My grandparents, aunts, and uncles, cousins friends, school teachers, it was frightening at first. We rode a bus from my hometown to Reynosa, Tamaulipas, which is a border town. It took a little over 24 hours to arrive there. We left the tropical environment and when we arrived to the border, we had to walk across a suspended bridge. The wind was blowing so hard that you could feel the bridge moved. It felt like it took forever to get to the American side.
Carmen Barajas Monin (03:05): The temperature in Mission, Texas that day was in the mid fifties with dark gray skies. We thought we will freeze to death. Learning the language was very hard. What made it more so was that I had to stop going to school to join the workforce at 13 years old. You have to remember that back in the day, the laws were not as protective for children's education was concerned.
Asset ID: 2022.32.04
Find a complete transcript at www.museumonmainstreet.org
