Community Historical Archaeology Project with Schools (CHAPS) Oral Histories

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Interview with Garrett Tanner

Garrett Tanner, Gabriela Domingo, and Daryl Dean

Supporting oral interview conducted for the The Houts Farm: a porción of Edinburg publication.
Interview with Vivian Torres

Vivian Torres and Selena Alvarado

The interviewee is named Vivian Torres. She has been a server/cashier at Buffalo Wings and Rings on North 10th for about three years. She will provide us with a server’s/cashier’s perspective and discuss her personal experiences on how the virus has affected her life and work since it started.
Interview with Mariah Trejo

Mariah Trejo and Mark A. Trejo

The interviewee was Ms. Trejo. She is an educator in the local area. She has been teaching for about 4-5 years and has experience in both the physical classroom and remote learning. This interview explores her accounts of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the local education system.
Interview with Caroline Twist

Caroline Twist, Geoffrey Waters, David Garcia, Michal Hartman, and Liza Soria

Supporting oral interview conducted for the The Norquest Family: a porción of Edinburg publication.
Interview with Patrick Twist

Patrick Twist, Maria Barrera, Lupe Flores, and Vanessa Saenz

Supporting oral interview conducted for the The Norquest Family: a porción of Edinburg publication.
Interview with Norma Valdez

Norma Valdez, Alexis Casiano, Ramiro Garza, and Randy Rosa

Supporting oral interview conducted for the The Cantú Family: a porción of Edinburg publication.
Interview with Sam Vallejo

Sam Vallejo and Luis Barreda

This interview was conducted in person at the establishment of Chick-Fil-A where Sam is employed. The purpose of this interview is to gain insight about how COVID-19 has affected restaurants and their business. Sam is a training director and a leader on the management team at the Chick-Fil-A on Ruben Torres in Brownsville. Based on his account, we can gain perspective on how management responded to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Porcion 54, Llano Grande & Oral History Transcript

Santos Vallejo and

Llano Grande, Hidalgo County, McAllen, Spiker Subdivision.
Interview with Dr. Rosalynn Vega

Rosalynn A. Vega and Chelsey Sandoval

Interview with Dr. Rosalynn Vega, anthropologist and scholar who focuses on Global Health and Migration, regarding research on medical migration in the Rio Grande Valley.
Oral History Transcript - Basilio David Villarreal IV

Basilio David Villarreal IV, Nancy Jasmine Serna, and
Interview with Jesus Villarreal

Jesus Villarreal and Ramon Navarro

The interviewee is Jesus Villarreal, owner of the taqueria. Along with many others, he has struggled to keep his small business afloat during this pandemic. He worked at a young age and saved enough to pursue his dream of opening a taqueria alongside his mother, but with recent events it has been an uphill battle. Social distancing measures were taken during the interview to ensure the safety of both parties.
Interview with Sarah Walker

Sarah Walker and Maxwell A. Perkins

The interviewee is Sarah Walker, who has lived in the Rio Grande Valley for her entire life. She was hired at a local restaurant shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic reached the Valley, working there well into the summer of 2020 under shifting policies and protocols, until contracting the coronavirus herself, recovering, and quitting. Based on her experiences during this time, Sarah gives us insight to how the pandemic affected a part of the food industry in McAllen, Texas, during the pandemic, as well as from a COVID-19 survivor.
Interview with Flavia Webber Ortiz

Flavia Webber Ortiz and Roseann Bacha-Garza

Supporting oral interviews conducted for Rio Grande Civil War Trail publication.
Interview with Alva Whitsitt "Purple Communion Shoes"

Alva Mae Whitsitt, Lara Speights, and Monica Anzaldua-Arraiza

Oral History Interview conducted on 6/16/2012, 10 a.m. – 11:30 AM, as part of the Porciones to Colonias project where RGV community members are interviewed by local school teachers about lived experiences in the border region.

Purple Communion Shoes: Growing up as 1 of 12 in Brownsville, Texas
Interview with Emilio Zamora

Emilio Zamora and Roseann Bacha Garza

The purpose of this interview with Dr. Emilio Zamora, Professor Emeritus History at the University of Texas – Austin, is to learn about his family life along the US-Mexico border where he was born and was raised throughout a portion of his youth across the Río Grande in El Horcón and Rio Rico. The CHAPS Program at UTRGV is interested in researching El Horcón, a tract of land along the US-Mexico border (near today’s Mecedes, Texas) that originally belonged to the United States but was intentionally cut off by the American Rio Grande Land Irrigation Company in 1906 when they deliberately diverted the course of the Rio Grande (the natural and international border between the US and Mexico) in order to guarantee the river remain adjacent to their newly established pumphouse. This personal story has been captured to help understand cultural lifeways developed along the transnational US-Mexico border.
Interview with Zenon Zachariah Zapata

Zenon Zachariah Zapata and Selena Alvarado

The interviewee is named Zenon Zachariah Zapata but goes by Zack. He has been a bartender at Buffalo Wings and Rings on North 10th for two years. He will provide us with a bartender's perspective and discuss his personal experiences on how the virus has affected his life/work since it started.