Mexican Americans -- Housing -- Kansas -- Lawrence
Mexican Americans -- History -- Kansas -- Lawrence
Mexican Americans -- Social conditions -- Kansas -- Lawrence
Valentin Romero was interviewed by Helen Krische in 2006 as part of an oral history project to document the La Yarda and Mexican-American communities in Lawrence, Kansas. La Yarda was a neighborhood of worker housing provided by the Santa Fe Railroad for Mexican-American railroad workers; located near the Kansas (Kaw) River, the neighborhood was largely destroyed by a major flood in 1951. Valentin lived with his parents and siblings in Lawrence's La Yarda neighborhood, and then in East Lawrence. Valentin describes his family's migration from Mexico to Lawrence, his father's work for the railroad, and his school experiences. Valentin discusses his work history, and describes how he met his wife. He describes the living conditions in the La Yarda neighborhood, childhood pasttimes, and social activities of the Mexican-American community in Lawrence and other Kansas towns. Valentin discusses experiences of discrimination and segregation encountered by Mexican-American community members. Valentin also describes the impact of the 1951 flood on the La Yarda neighborhood.
Watkins Community Museum (Lawrence, Kan.)
Published with the permission of Elizabeth Romero, on behalf of Valentin Romero. This work is the intellectual property of the Watkins Museum of History, Lawrence, Kansas. The public may freely copy, modify, and share this Item for noncommercial purposes if they include the original source information. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
To access the video and audio recordings of this interview, go to https://archive.org/details/20-vromero-2006.
The Watkins Museum of History also holds items related to this collection.
Additional research on the La Yarda community is held at the Spencer Research Library at the University of Kansas.
20a-VRomero-2006.mp3 (audio) and 20a-VRomero-2006.pdf (transcription)
20b-VRomero-2006.mp3 (audio) and 20b-VRomero-2006.pdf (transcription)