Emma Tenayuca oral history interview: Description: An oral history interview with Mexican American civil rights activist Emma Tenayuca. Emma’s family as well as those around her were hit hard by the… "You could go to another place, and you would see one person with a newspaper reading the paper to other workers — the latest news from Mexico." What started out as a movement for organization for equal wages turned into a mass movement against starvation, for civil rights, for a minimum wage law, and it changed the character of West Side San Antonio. Emma Tenayuca was just sixteen years old in 1932 when she joined a strike of women cigar makers. Like Dolores Ibárruri Gómez before her, Tenayuca gave all of her passion, her heart and her soul, to … 2 of 2 Emma Tenayuca led the Pecan-Shellers Strike of 1938 against wage cuts. Tenayuca explained in an oral history interview , What started out as a movement for organization for equal wages turned into a mass movement against starvation, for civil rights, for a minimum wage law, and it changed the character of West Side San Antonio. Emma Tenayuca was an organizer and activist who fought for civil and labor rights for Mexican and Mexican American workers in San Antonio, Texas, in the 1930s. Emma Tenayuca was born into a large Commanche family whose residence in South Texas predated both Mexican independence and the Mexico-U.S. War. 249 years later, Tenayuca graduated from Brackenridge High School in 1934. This article first appeared in the American Postal Workers Magazine, Pecan Shellers’ Strike Sparked Hispanic Workers’ Movement (March 2012). "And you could go to one corner of the plaza and listen to someone reading the Bible," Tenayuca said. Emma Tenayuca and the San Antonio Pecan Shellers Strike of 1938. Emma Tenayuca left a legacy of social change and an inspiring commitment to justice. “You just had a flat bench with no backing. "By age 21, Emma was Emma Tenayuca, address to 2th Annual Conference, National Association of Chicana and Chicano Studies, Austin, 984, reprinted in La Voz de Esperanza 2:7, September 999, p. 5. Emma Tenayuca: 8 ships destroyed and 9 ships lost. Emma Tenayuca was a fierce defender of Mexican workers, especially women, and she spoke without hesitation about the terrible working conditions forced upon workers. She was arrested during a protest in 1933, at just 16 years old. Born in 1916 in San Antonio, Texas, Emma Tenayuca lived at a time when Mexican-Americans were allowed few freedoms and fewer privileges. NARRATIVE TEXTS 5± NARRATIVE TEXTS Leonor Villegas de Magnón, Author and Founder of La Cruz Blanca, 1876-1955 Born into wealth, Leonor Villegas de Magnón could have lived a life of aristocratic ease but chose instead to follow her conscience. In an oral-history interview given to the Texas Observer in 1983, when she was in her sixties, Tenayuca floated the suggestion that her unusual last name tied her father’s lineage far … Is Part Of: José Angel Gutiérrez Papers, University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries, MS 24, Box 31. Categories Uncategorized Tags Emma Tenayuca, phstmu, Rinconcito de Esperanza, Women's History. Emma Tenayuca was a labor activist in Texas during the 1930’s, best known for her passionate speeches. When 12,000 pecan shellers marched out of the factories in 1938, she was unanimously elected strike leader. 6 Replies to “Emma Tenayuca-“La Pasionaria”” Her ancestors had lived on the land that would come to be known as San Antonio since 1685. 1987-1988. 3 Emma Tenayuca, interview with Jerry Poyo, February 2 , 987, Oral History Program, Institute of Texan Cultures. Emma Tenayuca and the 1938 pecan shellers' strike. on Feb 2 2016 09:57 A short account of the life of Emma Tenayuca and the Texas pecan shellers' strike of largely Hispanic workers in which she played a leading role. NARRATIVE TEXTS NARRATIVE TEXTS This was during the Great Depression era and when Jim Crow laws were enforced with a heavy hand. Let’s honor her memory by continuing her fight for social equity. She is remembered as a leader and stellar revolutionary organizer. : Emma Tenayuca's Struggle for Justice/La Lucha de Emma Tenayuca por la Justicia is a children's picture book written by the team of Carmen Tafolla and Sharyll Teneyuca and illustrated by Terry Ybáñez. ... Workmates - organising with agency workers on London Underground. Being the activist she was, this would just be one of the many hurdles she would face in the fight for the rights of laborers. Meet Equal Pay Pioneer Emma Tenayuca. Submitted by Steven. She graduated from Brackenridge High School in … Although her story is rather sad in parts, Tenayuca … Happy Birthday to a Tejana OG, Emma Tenayuca who was a labor leader, organizer and educator from San Antonio, Texas.. ... Red and Black Notes interview AngryWorkers. zKillboard has detected that it has been embedded in an iframe. During the 32-minute interview, Tenayuca discusses her family’s history in Texas, the genesis of her early radicalism and participation in the Communist Party during the 1930s, and her role in organizing the 1938 pecan shellers’… SAN ANTONIO — Emma Tenayuca was born Dec. 21, 1916, to a large family in San Antonio. We're ok with this, however, your experience might not be that great. Emma Tenayuca passed away on July 23, 1999, after developing Alzheimer’s Disease. Tenayuca was a central figure in the radical labor movement in Texas during the 1930s and a leading member of the Workers Alliance of America and Communist Party of Texas. Emma Beatrice Tenayuca, Mexican American labor organizer, civil rights activist, and educator, oldest daughter of Sam Tenayuca and Benita Hernandez Zepeda, was born in San Antonio, Texas, on December 21, 1916. While fighting for better pay, ... and it changed the character of West Side San Antonio,” Tenayuca said in a 1987 interview with the Institute of Texan Cultures. They unanimously elected Emma Tenayuca as their strike leader. They would give them their money in small envelopes and you wouldn’t see more than- if a whole family made four dollars, that was a lot of money.” Her close relationship with a grandfather who read the newspapers with her and took her to rallies for the rights of the poor fed the young girl's profound hunger for both learning and social justice. Resources about Emma Tenayuca and related topics available through the Blume Library and beyond. Her first arrest, which would become one of many, occurred when Emma Tenayuca was 16 years old. In a 1987 interview, Tenayuca recalled what she would typically see during her visits. Emma Tenayuca. Emma Tenayuca was a Texas labor organizer who was born on Dec. 21, 1921, in San Antonio. Emma Tenayuca by: Aalahjania Jones Emma Tenayuca Bibliography Bibliography: There is no biography of Emma Tenayuca, but information about her Texas organizing can be found in Zaragosa Vargas, “Tejana Radical: Emma Tenayuca and the San Antonio Labor Movement during the Great Born into a Comanche family in South Texas in 1916, the Depression took its toll on those around her, and it was at this time she saw first-hand the suffering of low-class workers, often with the help of her grandfather, who read newspapers with her and took her to rallies. Tenayuca said this during a late 1980s interview about the conditions in which shellers worked. Tenayuca died in 1999, at 83. Born on December 21, 1916, in San Antonio, Texas, Tenayuca started her activism early. It is a biographical picture book of Emma Tenayuca … Though out of the limelight for many decades, Tenayuca “never lost her passion for social justice and empowerment,” notes her niece, Sharyll Teneyuca, a San Antonio attorney who with Tafolla has written a children’s book, That’s Not Fair! Tejana Radical: Emma Tenayuca and the San Antonio Labor Movement during the Great Depression Emma Tenayuca’s Struggle for Justice, published by Wings Press. She died on July 23, 1999, at 83, receiving many tributes from the city that once shunned her. Tenayuca was born in San Antonio in 1916 and as a child she accompanied her abuelito to La Plaza del Zacate to hear speakers talk about the ideals of the Mexican Revolution. That's Not Fair!/¡No Es Justo! 2 Ibid., p. 8. Emma Beatrice Tenayuca, Mexican American labor organizer, civil rights activist, and educator, oldest daughter of Sam Tenayuca and Benita Hernandez Zepeda, was born in San Antonio, Texas, on December 21, 1916. An oral history interview with Mexican American civil rights activist Emma Tenayuca. Emma Tenayuca and the 1938 pecan shellers' strike. Materials include books, electronic books, articles, databases, and web resources. 3 Emma Tenayuca, interview with Jerry Poyo, February 2±, ±987, Oral History Program, Institute of Texan Cultures. Progress At the age of 16,Emma Tenayuca suffered her first arrest protesting against the Finck Cigar Company of San Antonio in 1933. Here are a few clips in her own words from an interview excerpt conducted by journalist Luis R. Torres, hosted in the UTSA Libraries Special … Tenayuca, Emma Pecan Shellers sign up or sign in to add/edit tags Interview date: 2016-07-01: Interview source: CRBB Summer 2016: Interviewees: Martinez, Jaime Locations: San Antonio, TX Duration: 00:04:55: Citation The interview was conducted by journalist Luis R. Torres ca. The interview was conducted by journalist Luis R. Torres ca. 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