Miles, Jon
Part 1 of 4 was recorded on June 9th, 2021 at Jon Miles’ house in Tucson, Arizona. The interview covers the following themes:
b. 1941
Childhood in New Jersey and family's move to Arizona in 1960.
Uncle’s ranch east of Tucson and early impressions of Arizona.
Fist job in Tucson at car wash. Making friends with Chicano co-workers.
Parents’ neighborhood near Golf Links and Wilmot in the 1960s, anticipating draft, working as maintenance man for Miracle Mile-area mobile home park. Sports and social life. Shopping at Miller’s Surplus downtown. Description of mobile home park. Groundskeeping job at Oro Valley Country Club and a flash flood of the Cañada del Oro wash.
Seeking “Father Kino’s treasure” near Tumacacori in 1962.
Getting drafted into the US Army in 1963.
Part 2 of 4 was recorded on June 16th, 2021 at Jon Miles’ house in Tucson, Arizona. The interview covers the following themes:
Pickup and city rec basketball games on the south side in the early 1960s.
Joining an informal car club, The Cruisers.
Friendships with Chicanos. Race and ethnicity in Tucson during the 1960s.
Miles’ father’s Masonic involvement.
Resuming Miles’ draft story with basic training in Louisiana, artillery training in Oklahoma, and shipping out from Oakland, California for the Vietnam War.
First impressions of Vietnam and setting up a fortification. Coming under fire for the first time.
Advice about civilians from a Korean War veteran. Interaction with Vietnamese civilians in combat and noncombat situations.
Return to the United States in early 1966. Changing thoughts regarding the war and developing an early sense of social justice.
Additional stories about Miles’ service in the Vietnam War.
Part 3 of 4 was recorded on July 8th, 2021 at Jon Miles’ house in Tucson, Arizona. The interview covers the following themes:
Work at the San Manuel copper mine in the early 1970s and involvement in a wildcat strike.
Departure from mining and involvement with the United Farmworkers. Joining a recall effort against Arizona governor Jack Williams. Miles’ role in managing traffic control and security on marches.
Guerilla activist theater evolving into Teatro Libertad.
Picketing stores that stocked nonunion lettuce and grapes.
Disagreements between the UFW and Teamsters and union relationships in the 1970s.
Miles’ interest in activism.
Working with Cesar Chavez.
Back-channel conversations with Tucson Police.
Defusing conflicts at events. Security for Angela Davis at University of Arizona speech.
Working with the Tucson Committee for Human Rights in Latin America in the late 1970s and 1980s. Protesting at Pinal Air Park and being investigated by the FBI.
An aside about Evo DeConcini’s support for the UFW.
The end of the Tucson Committee for Human Rights in Latin America in the early 1990s.
Beginning of Derechos Humanos in mid-1990s. Protests of Border Patrol abuse.
Coordinating security for a large protest against an immigration bill in 2006; police interactions, dealing with armed counter protestors, permitting. Long term challenges with a handful of counter protestors.
Changing relationship between the media and activists over Miles’ life.
Interactions with anarchists.
Changes in organization and communication among activists over Miles’ life.
Part 4 of 4 and was recorded on August 11th, 2021 at Jon Miles’ house in Tucson, Arizona. The interview covers the following themes:
Further details about the Tucson Committee for Human Rights in Latin America and their protests of Evergreen Aviation in Marana, AZ during the 1980s. Also, protests for divestment in South Africa and Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.
The politics of the Arizona Daily Star and the Tucson Citizen.
The Coalition for the Homeless in the 1990s. Miles’ involvement with Casa Maria Soup Kitchen. Changes in homeless population over Miles’ years of volunteering.
Downtown Tucson in the early 1960s.
The El Rio Golf Course protests in the early 1970s.
Joining the Communist Party in America in the 1980s. Salt of the Earth Labor College.