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Milligan, Adele Hernandez (audio interview #1 of 3)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This is the first of three interviews with Adele Milligan conducted in her home in Lakewood, California. Milligan's recollection of her early years is rather sparse and repeatedly mentioned that she needed to check with her sister. She was hesitant about the interview process and somewhat nervous and cautious. 12/2/1980
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- 2021-03-22
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- *** File: rrramilligan1.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-3:22)... Interview introduction Milligan's paternal grandparents and her father were born in San Antonio, Texas. Her grandfather died when her father was a young boy. When Milligan's parents married, her paternal grandmother died. Milligan believes that her father and his parents worked in the cattle industry. She assumes that her father worked as a butcher when he was a young man because he was a butcher when her parents married. (3:22-7:51)... Milligan's mother was born and raised in the San Antonio, Texas area. When Milligan's maternal grandmother died, Milligan's mother and her siblings were raised by their eldest sister. Milligan's maternal grandfather worked as a border patrol officer at one time and the family lived a relatively comfortable life. Her mother did not speak English, but understood it fairly well. Her father spoke fluent English and Milligan and her siblings did not speak Spanish in the home. (7:51-10:03)... Her parents met as a result of the friendship between her father and her mother's brothers. Her father often visited her mother's home and the two married in 1911-12 when her mother was eighteen years old and her father was approximately twenty-five years old. Her mother did not work prior to marrying her father and became a housewife when her parents married. (10:03-12:46)... The community in which Milligan's parents lived was an ethnically mixed area. Milligan is the fifth (she identifies herself as the fourth child, which excludes a brother born before her who died) of seven children born to her parents, two of whom died when they were infants. Her parents also adopted a girl who is the youngest child in the family. (12:46-19:26)... She was raised on a ranch in Divine, Texas. Her father raised and butchered cows and pigs on the ranch and sold the meat at the market located in Divine. He was a hard worker and the family did not ever encounter difficult financial times. Her mother was a housewife and an Indian woman assisted her mother with the household chores. The ranch in which they lived was equipped with a telephone and electricity. Milligan describes the home and recalls an incident when her younger sister choked on a piece of sugar cane. (19:26-22:12)... She does not recall very much of her life growing up on the ranch in Divine. The toys she played with consisted of bottles or anything else that was on the ranch because her parents did not purchase their children toys. In addition to the pigs and cows, they also had a horse and several goats that lived on the ranch. She does not recall having very many playmates except for a wealthy family that lived near their ranch. (22:12-26:23)... When Milligan was seven years old, her family moved from Divine to San Antonio, where she started school. Her father sold his ranch in Divine and opened a meat market in San Antonio. The neighborhood in which they lived was ethnically mixed; it consisted of a long row of houses that were owned by individual families. Eventually, her father sold his meat market and went to work for Swift Meat Packing. Although as a young child she spoke Spanish in the home, she always spoke English when talking to her father. She did not stop speaking Spanish until she started attending elementary school. (26:23-28:37)... Milligan discusses the relationship with her parents [but spoke off tape about her father]. Her mother was not a physically demonstrative woman or very loving towards the children. She provided for the children in every way possible and was always home when the children were home. Whenever Milligan had any problems or wanted to do something, she went to her mother and never to her father. End of tape. *** File: rrramilligan2.mp3 (0:00-2:21)... The types of activities her family did together included picnics and visiting her aunt's orchard ranch in Somerset, Texas. She describes the types of fruits grown on her aunt's ranch and what kinds of things she and her siblings did while visiting their aunt. (2:21-5:43)... She was very close with her siblings when she was a child and they continued that closeness into adulthood. She discusses some of the things that her and her siblings did together. Even though she did not own a doll, her younger brother made her doll furniture that she enjoyed playing with. Her parents did not restrict their daughters' from engaging in physical activities. Her mother once mentioned that older girls should not "jump;" however, Milligan was not criticized for participating in sports or other physically strenuous activity. (5:43-6:50)... Milligan and her siblings shared household chores and responsibilities equally. Chores were not gender specific and her parents did not punish the children by assigning them to complete certain tasks around the house. (6:50-11:35)... Milligan started school in San Antonio and although she was initially scared, by the second day her fears dissipated. She and her siblings walked to school. The school was mainly attended by boys as there was a higher ratio of boys living in the community. While in school, she played with her siblings and a couple of girls who lived near her ranch. Milligan's use of Spanish decreased when she started elementary school. She occasionally spoke to her mother in Spanish, but English was predominately spoken at home and at school. (11:35-16:12)... Milligan was raised in a Catholic household; however, the family did not attend church on a regular basis. She was baptized and attended catechism prior to her first communion. She viewed catechism as a chore more than anything. Her parents did not attend church on a regular basis and religion did not play an important role in her family life. Milligan explains her philosophy towards religion and worship, indicating that she attends church whenever she pleases and not because she feels obligated. (16:12-19:00)... During her pre-teen years she aspired to be an actress like Clara Bow. She and another girl use to pretend that they were actresses. She was easily entertained during those years and did not recall thinking about pursuing any professional or skilled work. (19:00-23:04)... Following elementary school, she junior high school and then high school. In general, she was not a good student and did not like school. While in high school she became ill and began losing a lot of weight. The school was approximately a four-mile walk from her home and her mother thought it was best that she stop going to school. Prior to leaving high school, Milligan was a member of the girls' basketball team. (23:04-27:07)... Milligan did not date prior to moving to Los Angeles when she was eighteen years old. Her only social interaction with the opposite sex occurred when she attended dances. She and her girlfriends walked to and from the dances together. Milligan discusses her experiences at the dances, indicating that she never left the dance with a boy. The first time she ever walked home from high school with a boy she was physically punished by her mother. Even though it was acceptable to go to dances with her girlfriends, it was not acceptable behavior to socialize with boys one-on-one. End of tape. *** File: rrramilligan3.mp3 (0:00-2:36)... Most of Milligan's social activities involved going to dances and the movies with her girlfriends. She and her girlfriends did not engage in group dating activities. Her family was very large and she visited her relatives in the San Antonio area quite often. She had many cousins and may have socialized with male friends of the family at that time, as there were many more boys in her family than girls. (2:36-3:56)... Milligan does not recall what she thought about her future after she left high school. However, at that time she was not thinking about getting married. (3:56-16:35)... Milligan's oldest brother was the first person in her family to move to Los Angeles. He traveled to Los Angeles by hitchhiking on the railroad with a few friends. Milligan's mother moved to Los Angeles a short time later with her youngest daughter who was adopted. Milligan explains the circumstances that led to her mother adopting this baby, who was actually Milligan's cousin. (16:35-24:51)... From San Antonio, Milligan and her family moved to Austin, Texas and lived there for approximately a year. Milligan befriended a girl who later fell ill with typhoid fever. Milligan cared for her friend but did not contract the illness. She was relatively healthy during this period in her life and explains that the reason she lost so much weight was due to her low appetite. After Milligan's mother moved to Los Angeles, Milligan's father and the rest of the family moved to Fort Worth, and her father worked at a Swift Meat Packing plant. They rented a large house and managed to care for themselves and the home while her father worked. After approximately three months, they left Fort Worth and drove to Los Angeles. (24:51-29:00)... When her mother left, Milligan did not think that she was deserting the family. When she arrived in Los Angeles, she moved into her brother's home located on 98th Street and Vermont where her son was also living at the time. In 1936, Milligan and the rest of her family moved to Los Angeles. They stayed with her uncle for a short time and then moved into a home located on 111th and San Pedro. Her father went to work at Cudahy. Eventually her parents separated and divorced, and her father remarried and moved to Fresno. He eventually returned to Texas. Milligan later learned that her father was forced to leave Los Angeles because of his union activities. End of tape *** File: rrramilligan4.mp3 (0:00-8:48)... Milligan moved to Los Angeles with her father and siblings in 1936 when she was eighteen years old. They lived with her uncle for a short time before moving into their own home on 111th and San Pedro. Milligan worked as a baby sitter for a short time. Her first real job was making ties at a tie factory located in downtown Los Angeles, where she earned $5 a week. The shop was very small with approximately ten workers. Other jobs she had included packing strawberries, canning Ortega chilies, and painting statuary at a ceramic shop. Most of the jobs she held after 1936 were short-term until she found steady work at Lockheed. (8:48-11:49)... She recalls that only one company where she worked was unionized. She was somewhat indifferent regarding unionization at the time and when the workers went on strike she quit because she wanted to work for a place that was "nicer." However, she does not recall what types of work she was thinking about at the time. Most of her wages were given to her mother. She discusses some family issues with her father, but this conversation is very vague. (11:49-18:55)... During the first year living in Los Angeles she met a group of girls through her brother that she called the "Gardena girls;" she and her cousins were referred to as the "99th Street girls." She socialized with both women and men. They mainly went to dances together and other social gatherings. She describes their social activity as very wholesome, indicating that they did not drink or smoke at that time. Many of her friends were Anglos and she never lived in or socialized in an environment that was predominantly Latino. During these years, she did not date any Mexicans and the majority of her family members married Anglos. (18:55-22:52)... While living in Texas her family always lived in a large home with several bedrooms. She discusses a kettle that was used to boil the clothes when they were washed. Her family did not lack anything while she was growing up. She always had plenty of food and clothing. End of tape
- SUBJECT BIO - Adele Hernandez Milligan was twenty three years old when she went to work at the Lockheed plant in Maywood (southeastern Los Angeles). Milligan, the fourth of three children, was born in Texas. After her mother left the family, she moved to Los Angeles with her father and siblings. Shortly after they arrived, Milligan began working at various factory and packing house jobs, until 1942, when she went to work at Lockheed. As the war was drawing to a close, in 1944, the plant was closed and all the workers were transferred to another sub-assembly plant. Since there wasn't much work, and little future there, Mulligan quit to take a more "glamorous" job - as an usherette in one of the large downtown theaters. She continued to work there until her marriage in 1954, when she started her career as a full-time homemaker. Three interviews were conducted in the living room of her small, cheerful tract home. Milligan remained a somewhat hesitant participant throughout the oral history process, even though her sister encouraged her continued participation in the project, Milligan remained a somewhat hesitant participant, and was cautious and nervous about the interviews. She did continue, however, and despite her reluctance tried to cooperative, checking details of her earlier life with other members of the family. TOPICS - family background; childhood; living conditions; housing; neighborhoods; and family life;family background; childhood; siblings; family life; school; and social activities;social activities; family history; parents; and move to Los Angeles;family history; family life; move to Los Angeles; work; social activities; and friends;
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