Virginia Espino Program Coordinator for Latina and Latino History, UCLA Library's Center for Oral History Research B.A., UC Santa Cruz [Psychology] Ph.D., Arizona State University [History]
The home of Esteban Edward Torres in West Covina, California
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Esteban Edward Torres and Virginia Espino
This interview is part of the oral history series Mexican American Civil Rights Pioneers: Historical Roots of an Activist Generation. The purpose of this oral history series is to document the social justice activism of the Mexican American generation and to explore family and community life in war-time Los Angeles. Individuals selected for this series resided in Los Angeles during the 1930s and 1940s and began their civic participation prior to the 1960s social unrest that swept the nation. Represented individuals participated in a wide range of activities and organizations addressing labor, political and educational issues. Their combined experience illuminates war-time community life for Mexican Americans and outlines the historical precursors to the Chicana and Chicano Movement.
This interview was undertaken to document the life history of one of Los Angeles' most influential Mexican American residents, an individual who rose in the ranks of the United Auto Workers and who was elected to the United States Congress in 1982. Themes highlighted in this interview include education and the Mexican child, the role of the United Auto Workers in promoting leadership, the impact of the Cold War, and the Chicano Movement.
Virginia Espino prepared for the interviews by researching the microfilm collection of the Eastside Sun housed at the East Los Angeles Public Library. The Historical Los Angeles Times database was consulted along with various secondary sources about Mexican Americans in the Southwest and Chicano history, politics, and civic life.
The interviewer compiled the table of contents and interview history and supplied the spellings of proper nouns and the complete names entered in brackets in the text. Esteban Edward Torres reviewed the transcript. He verified proper names, made a few corrections and additions, and provided a curriculum vitae.
The transcript of this interview is a verbatim transcript of the audio recording. It was transcribed by a professional transcribing agency using a list of proper names and specialized terminology supplied by the interviewer. The interviewee was then given the opportunity to review the transcript in order to supply the missing or misspelled names and to verify the accuracy of the contents, and those corrections were entered into the text without further editing or review on the part of the Center for Oral History Research (COHR) staff.
In some cases the audio recording may differ slightly from the transcript, either because the transcriptionist did not accurately transcribe what was said or because of the changes the interviewee made at the time of their review.
Records relating to the interview are located in the office of the UCLA Library’s Center for Oral History Research.