Ortiz, Martha

This interview was recorded on January 25th, 2022 at Martha Ortiz’ house in Tucson, Arizona. At a few points during the interview, Martha’s son, Quentin Ortiz, joins the conversation. The interview covers the following themes:

b. 1924 

  • Early life in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. College at the University of Illinois. Meeting future husband Augusto Ortiz. 

  • Husband’s draft into the military during the Korean War and relocation to Phoenix, Arizona in 1953. Expectations and first impressions of the desert. 

  • Husband’s medical practice in Phoenix, the rarity of Spanish-speaking doctors, and work with farmworkers. 

  • Closing independent practice and relocation to Tucson to work at University of Arizona Medical School. 

  • Augusto Ortiz’s experience treating farmworkers with back problems resulting from the short handled hoe. 

  • Cesar Chavez’s hunger strike. Acquaintance with Chavez.  

  • Traveling with Augusto when he worked for the UA’s Rural Health Office. 

  • Augusto’s work to bring musician and composer Pablo Casals to play a concert in Phoenix in 1972. 

Aengus Anderson