During World War II, workers in North America were in short supply as the US labor force supported the war effort. On August 4, 1942, the US and Mexican governments signed the Mexican Farm Labor Program Agreement, to legalize and control Mexican farm workers along the border. Known as the “Bracero [manual laborer] Program”, it stipulated… Continue reading Mexican Farm Labor Program Agreement 1942
Tag: 1942
Happy Birthday to Isabel Allende 1942
Happy Birthday to award winning novelist and political activist Isabel Allende, born in Lima, Peru on August 2, 1942. Her father was a Chilean diplomat and her uncle was former Chilean President, Salvador Allende. Salvador Allende was assassinated in a coup widely believed to be engineered by the CIA. Isabel, then a journalist, and her… Continue reading Happy Birthday to Isabel Allende 1942
Happy Birthday to Jerry Garcia, Rock Star 1942
August 1, 1942 is the birthday of musician Jerry Garcia, a member of the iconic North American band, The Grateful Dead. Garcia was the son of a Spanish ballroom jazz musician, and was born in San Francisco, California. Garcia had a complicated life, with family tragedy and struggles with drug addiction, haloed by brilliant and… Continue reading Happy Birthday to Jerry Garcia, Rock Star 1942
Happy Birthday to Carmen Inoa Vazquez 1942
Happy Birthday to bicultural clinical psychologist, teacher and author Carmen Inoa Vazquez, born in Bonao, Dominican Republic, on July 16, 1942. Vazquez graduated from Queens College, Cum Laude, and earned a Ph.D. from City University’s APA Approved Program in Clinical Psychology. Vazquez contributes to numerous books, academic journals and popular magazines, offering advice and insight… Continue reading Happy Birthday to Carmen Inoa Vazquez 1942
Vicente Fox Quesada, President of Mexico
Happy Birthday to Vicente Fox Quesada, born on July 2, 1942 in Guanajuato, Mexico. Fox made modern Mexican political history when he was elected as the first President from an opposition party, the Partido Acción Nacional. Fox defeated the Partido Revolucionario Institucional, which had ruled uninterrupted for 70 years. Fox started his career in business,… Continue reading Vicente Fox Quesada, President of Mexico
Happy Birthday to Paco Pena, Flamenco Artist
Happy Birthday to Paco Peña, one of the world’s leading flamenco artists. Pena was born in Cordoba Spain on June 1, 1942. As a shy boy of six, Pena strung on a guitar, and soon realized that music was his calling to communicate. Much later in life, he created the Centro Flamenco Paco Pena, one… Continue reading Happy Birthday to Paco Pena, Flamenco Artist
Carmen Contreras Bozak, Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps 1942
The Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) was established during World War II on May 15, 1942, to “[make] available to the national defense the knowledge, skill and special training of the women of the nation”. Carmen Contreras Bozak was the first Latinx woman to enlist, serving as interpreter and in administrative positions to manage communications… Continue reading Carmen Contreras Bozak, Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps 1942
Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez, first Latinx Astronaut
Happy Birthday to Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez, born on January 29, 1942, in Guantánamo, Cuba. Méndez was orphaned as an infant, and spent some of his childhood working as a shoeshine and vegetable seller. He was selected as an astronaut in the Soviet Union’s seventh Intercosmos program in 1978. Méndez was the first Latinx and the first… Continue reading Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez, first Latinx Astronaut