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Castro, Anita (audio interview #1 of 6)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This first interview with Anita Castro, like the rest, was conducted in her living room apartment. Because of her rapid speaking style, it is sometimes difficult to understand her. The audio quality is not good. TOPICS - family background and childhood; immigration to South America; family relationships; education; immigration to the US;immigration to US; life in Montana; education; first marriage; relationship with her mother; move to California; initial discussion of work and union activities on move to Los Angeles; 12/22/1975
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- 2020-03-26
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- SUBJECT BIO - Anita Muretta Andrade Castro became one of the first Spanish speaking women organizers in the ILGWU in Los Angeles. She became active in the union during the drive leading up to the industry-wide general strike of 1934, and was named to the Executive Board (under the name Anita Andrade). She remained active in the union as an organizer and a business agent, working particularly closely with the Spanish-speaking workers, until her retirement in 1972. Although she was actually born in Yugoslavia (the Austro-Hungarian empire), Castro was raised in Argentina and spent most of her life in the US in the Mexican community. She married Mexican men following a teen-age marriage to a Croatian, and was viewed and accepted as a Latina by the workers in the industry. At the time of the interview, Castro had suffered several strokes and her health and memory deteriorated over the course of the interview series. She was interviewed as part of the Feminist History Research Project labor series. INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This first interview with Anita Castro, like the rest, was conducted in her living room apartment. Because of her rapid speaking style, it is sometimes difficult to understand her. The audio quality is not good. TOPICS - family background and childhood; immigration to South America; family relationships; education; immigration to the US;immigration to US; life in Montana; education; first marriage; relationship with her mother; move to California; initial discussion of work and union activities on move to Los Angeles;
- <b>File: lhgwacastro1.mp3</b> <b>Audio Segments and Topics:</b> <br>(0:00-1:32)... Tape introduction. Born in the Austro-Hungarian empire (Croatia), the oldest of six children, Castro was only three years old when she moved with her mother to South America, where her father worked as a stone mason, among other things. This was the first time she met her father. Castro describes her mother's reactions upon seeing her husband when they arrived. <br>(1:32-2:59)... In South America, her mother gave birth to a son. During the birth, Castro was sent to a friend's house on her mother's instructions. However, these people rejected her, and as she walked home along the railroad tracks, a woman saved her from an oncoming train. <br>(2:59-4:01)... As a child, she recalls an evening when her father offered her a drink of wine. On another occasion, she drank wine and became drunk, for which her father beat her. <br>(4:01-6:11)... Until she was three years old, she lived in a Croatian area of the Austro-Hungarian empire. Her father worked there as a stone mason and on the railroads. At the time, her family lived in a tent and moved from one place to another. When her family moved to Argentina, they continued to speak Croatian. <br>(6:11-8:22)... In 1918, her father decided to move to the United States and they traveled from Argentina to Bolivia on horseback. When they arrived in Bolivia, they were told that the United States had closed its borders to immigration. Prior to leaving Argentina, her brother died from smallpox, another brother drowned, and her sister died from influenza on the trek from Argentina to Bolivia. In Bolivia, her mother had another child. <br>(8:22-10:04)... Her early education was very sporadic as a result of moving to different cities. She received three years of education in Argentina, but did not go back to school until the family moved to Bolivia. There, she went to school for a couple of years and then went to a convent where she learned hand work and crafts. Although she was raised as a Catholic, her family very rarely went to church. <br>(10:04-12:34)... While living in Bolivia, her father worked as a stone mason and worked on railroads. He left the family after gambling away 30,000 pesos. At the time, they did not know he abandoned the family, and Castro was sent into town to search for him. Apparently, he left the town and walked into the mountains, where he was cared for by an Indian. He then took a train to Peru and the family did not hear from him for six months. <br>(12:34-15:35)... Prior to her father leaving, the family was living in a tent and there was a tent for their servants. At the time, her family had money, but they were living in tents because there was no housing. After her father left, the family moved to an Indian village where her mother made a living crocheting and spinning yarn. <br>(15:35-18:33)... Castro's mother turned down a job as a cook because she believed her husband would not approve of her working, even though he was not around at that time. Six months after he left, he sent them a letter asking then to come to Peru. Some time after they arrived in Peru, her mother gave birth to a son. In general, Castro believes that her mother did want children, but also had no knowledge about contraception to prevent these pregnancies. In Peru, Castro went to a private school and decided she wanted to become a teacher. In addition to receiving her high-school education in Peru, she also went to one year of Normal school, which was a requirement for students seeking a career in teaching. <br>(18:33-21:18)... When she was fifteen years old, her father died in a work-related accident. Because her mother was in bed giving birth to another child, they did not attend his funeral. After her father's death, they had very little money; however, her mother managed to save enough money to open a small grocery store. In 1922, after Castro finished her first year of Normal school, attracted to the US by the stories she heard about limitless opportunities. <br>(21:18-24:05)... As a young girl, she thought of her ethnicity as Latin. She had very few friends as she was growing up because her family lived in labor camps wherever her father found work. Castro's aunt sent the fare for the family to travel to New York. After arriving there, her mother and all her siblings became ill, They stayed in different hospitals for approximately a month. There were no Spanish speaking people in the hosptital, and she did not know any English. She was able to understand a few words of Italian because of its similarity to Spanish. [Note: Argentinian Spanish, in particular, has heavy Italian influence.] <br>(24:05-29:11)... Her family traveled to the United States by boat and were placed in the third-class section. She recalls that there were a lot of "Negro" women seated with them, which was the first time she saw Negroes. At the time, she did not have any concept of race, but recalls thinking that the women were very black. There was an incident on the boat in which a man tried to rape one of the Negro women. Although she knew very little about sex, she knew something sexual had occurred. Her mother did not discuss sex. The first time she menstruated, her mother seemed very alarmed and made her feel like menstruation was bad. <br>(29:11-34:33)... In Peru, she went to school with both girls and boys. Although she was instructed not to speak to anyone, she was not chaperoned when she went out of the house. Castro's mother did not want her to speak to strangers or accept gifts from anyone, which may have stemmed from her mother's fear of rape. <br>(34:33-38:35)... While living in Bolivia, there was no segregation between the Spanish people and the Indians. When she decided to pursue a career in teaching, it was a common field for women in Peru. She went to one year of Normal school in Peru, where she also received training on how to sew and how to be a good wife and complete domestic duties. She also attended a school operated by Americans, where she hoped to learn English. <br>(38:35-41:49)... In Peru, their home was made of adobe. One evening, someone made a hole in the wall and stole everything from her mother's grocery store. Even through all of these hardships, Castro's mother remained a very happy and optimistic person. On the other hand, Castro's father drank a lot and often beat her mother. When he wasn't drinking, he was a very good father and husband. end of tape <br><b>File: lhgwacastro2.mp3</b> <br>(0:00-0:59)... She was resentful towards her father for abandoning the family, because of his drinking habits, and because he would often leave jobs without finishing them, which reduced the family income. <br>(0:59-3:19)... As a young woman, she often fantasized about life in the US, particularly in California. She wanted to work as a teacher in the US. When her family arrived in New York they were very ill and required hospitalization. When they were released from the hospital, they took a train to Montana, where her aunt lived. Her aunt was a very sick woman and suffered from asthma, which ultimately killed her. <br>(3:19-5:24)... When they arrived at her aunt's farm, Castro's baby brother died of pneumonia, leaving just herself, her mother, and her younger sister. Castro's aunt immediately began finding a husband for her mother. One suitor interested in Castro's mother suggested that he "try her out" for awhile before they married. Upon hearing this, her mother chased him out of the house with a stick. Castro's mother and aunt got into a heated argument and they moved out of her aunt's house. <br>(5:24-9:11)... They lived in Opportunity, Montana, which was a small community of Croatians. After leaving her aunt's house, they moved into a small house and shared the rent with her uncle. Her mother worked as a dishwasher and Castro went to school to learn English. However, Castro did not return to school after the Christmas break because her mother wanted her to marry. At the time, her mother was engaged to a man who did not want to support Castro because she was sixteen years old. Castro did not know anything about marriage and considered herself very different than all of the other Americans, particularly because of the way she dressed. When her family arrived in the United States, they were all dressed in black and the women wore veils because they were mourning her father. Castro's aunt told them that it was not customary for people in America to do this. <br>(9:11-14:13)... When she started school in Montana, she made friends with other girls. Most of these girls dated and she went to a couple of dances with them. However, she did not have a boyfriend at the time. Castro's mother introduced her to a 36-year-old man as a prospective partner, but Castro did not like him. However, her mother was persistent and spent several weeks trying to convince her to marry this man, which she ultimately did. She was sixteen years old when she married. <br>(14:13-16:59)... She did not want to marry this man and was disgusted by him. After she married, they lived with her mother in a separate room in the house. She recalls that the worst part of the marriage was having to have sex with him. Her only domestic duty was doing the laundry. Shortly after she married, they moved to Butte, Montana with her mother. Castro recalls being very mean to her husband. She continued to associate with friends her age despite the fact she married an older man. <br>(16:59-21:39)... She left her husband when she was eighteen years old. However, her mother threatened to send her to reform school if she did not return to her husband. Frightened by this threat, Castro returned to her husband and shortly afterwards became pregnant. At that time, she decided she did not want to have another child with this man and made plans to leave him again. She saved money and went to beauty school and made a living as a beauty operator. Her husband did not try to prevent her from attending school. She stayed with her husband until she had her son and then obtained a divorce. Her mother was very upset that she divorced and hit her. <br>(21:39-24:29)... The only time she had sex with her husband was on pay day so that she could get money from him to put towards her savings, which she planned to use to leave him. At the time, she was afraid of getting pregnant again and did not know anything about contraception. When they divorced, her husband did not contest the divorce or seek custody of their son. After her divorce, she worked as a beauty operator and made plans to move to California. While saving money for her move, she met a Mexican man and secretly married him. This man was very controlling and their marriage was difficult. When she left with her second husband for California, she left her son with her mother. <br>(24:29-29:15)... When she moved to California in 1929-30, she left her son with her mother. Castro and her husband settled in Oxnard, where they both worked in the fields and she worked in a restaurant as a waitress. She wanted to leave her husband, but she was afraid because he threatened to kill her if she left. She ultimately left her husband and returned to Montana, where she stayed and worked as a waitress. When she finally returned to California, she refused to go back to him. <br>(29:15-31:58)... When she returned to California, she eventually went back to her husband and they moved to Los Angeles. However, she planned to leave him again once she got a good job. At this time, she began attending school at night to learn English and worked in a factory as a finisher. As soon as she moved to Los Angeles, she became involved with the union there. She was living in east Los Angeles when the general strike occurred. During the strike, union officials requested her assistance and when she reported for duty, she thought they were going to ask her to throw bombs. Much to her relief, they asked her to pass out leaflets. <b>End of tape.</b>
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