Mike and Elizabeth Zúñiga
(96 pages)
Listen to the interview
Biography:
Mike Zúñiga and wife, Elizabeth Gonzales Zúñiga, are community activists in the Ballinger area of West Texas and members of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). Mike was born in 1939; Elizabeth was born in 1944 and was raised in Winters, Texas.
Interview Summary:
Mike and Elizabeth Zúñiga describe their early lives, education, upbringing and the discrimination they experienced and continue to observe. Mike talks about his work farming and ranching in western Central Texas with his father while still a student, their ruination by drought, and his subsequent jobs. Elizabeth discusses her return to school, qualification and work as an LVN, and her later achievement of the RN degree. She also reveals her struggle against expectations, her own included, that Mexican American women should not work outside the home. The Zúñigas relate their involvement with organizing LULAC District 5 and La Raza Unida Party in Winters, Texas, discuss life as Mexican Americans in Texas (especially in the Winters and Ballinger area) and describe political activity and developments in the region.
Locations of residence or activity:
Ballinger/Winters
Interview Date:
8/24/1997