Sacina, Romelia "Romy"

This interview is part 1 of 3 and was recorded at the base of Tumamoc Hill in Tucson, Arizona on October 2nd, 2017. The interview covers the following themes: 

b. 1937 

  • Family: mother born in Tubac to migrant workers, Romelia born in Mexicali. Relocation to US in 1941. Father from Machado family in San Diego. Parents separation. 

  • Childhood in Tucson during the 1940s. Living near poverty and mother’s multiple jobs. Romelia’s work taking care of her infant brother as a five year-old. 

  • Food help from the neighborhood’s Chinese grocer.  

  • World War II V-Day celebration. 

  • Poverty, food, and gardening. 

  • Importance of education to Romelia’s mother. Attending the 1C English/Americanization program at TUSD. Spanish and English use among peers. 

  • Neighborhood and games in Armory Park/downtown. Safety and walking. 

  • Holidays American identification. Downtown holiday shopping. The Rodeo Parade. 

  • Expectations of children: be seen and not heard. Gendered expectations and Romelia’s desire to play sports. 

  • The “humble years” of the 1940s, speed of news, and death of Frankin Delano Roosevelt. 

  • Halloween and Beggerman’s Night. Masquerade dancing at the El Casino Ballroom. 

  • Dress, formality, and fashion. Wetmore Pools. 

  • Being mocked for Spanish accent and school fights. Trying to unlearn accent. 

  • First menstruation and lack of information from family or friends. Generational differences between Romelia and her mother. 

  • Use of language, continued. 

This interview is part 2 of 3 and was recorded at the base of Tumamoc Hill in Tucson, Arizona on April 29th, 2019. The interview covers the following themes: 

  • Attending Tucson High during the mid-1950s. 

  • Gaining US citizenship. Stigma of Mexican identity and culture. Being excluded from cheerleading at school. 

  • Romelia’s chores during high school, contrasted with her brothers’.  

  • Dancing with family and friends at the El Casino Ballroom. The stigma of premarital sex and pregnancy. Big bands that played in Tucson. The La Silva nightclub downtown. 

  • Employment opportunities in the mid-1950s. Working in the men’s department in JC Penny during high school. Informality of job application process. Applying to work at a doctor’s office. 

  • Marriage to an oppressive husband who limited Romelia’s engagement in the workforce, hobbies, and social life. Decision to get divorced after fifteen years. Social pressure to marry immediately after high school. Challenge of paying off family debts after divorce. 

This interview is part 3 of 3 and was recorded at the base of Tumamoc Hill in Tucson, Arizona on May 20th, 2019. The interview covers the following themes: 

  • The stigma of divorce and public divorce announcements in the newspaper. Post-divorce finances. Second marriage and divorce. 

  • Working for independent doctors. 

  • The Amphi Neighborhood in 1960 and six decades of changes. Wetmore Pools in the 1950s. Cultural changes beginning in the 1960s: behavior, dress, names. 

  • Experience of working at small, generalist medical practice. Practicing I.V. administration on the doctor. Billing in the pre-insurance era. The early days of Medicare. Paying in installments. 

  • Raising children during the 1960s. Changing attitudes towards drugs. Lack of counterculture in Romelia’s Mexican American community. Points of contact between Mexican and black communities in Tucson. Disinterest in Chicano movement.  

  • Frustration with Vietnam War protests. Brother’s military service. Sense of patriotism. 

  • Amphi neighborhood in the 1960s continued: demographics, lawns, children. Waning neighborhood cohesion. Changing sense of place in Tucson. 

Aengus Anderson