Erasmo gamboa biography for kids
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Bracero Railroaders
Desperate for laborers to keep the trains moving during World War II, the U.S. and Mexican governments created a now mostly forgotten bracero railroad program that sent a hundred thousand Mexican workers across the border to build and maintain railroad lines throughout the United States, particularly the West. Although both governments promised the workers adequate living arrangements and fair working conditions, most bracero railroaders lived in squalor, worked dangerous jobs, and were subject to harsh racial discrimination.
Making matters worse, the governments held a percentage of the workers’ earnings in a savings and retirement program that supposedly would await the men on their return to Mexico. However, rampant corruption within both the railroad companies and the Mexican banks meant that most workers were unable to collect what was rightfully theirs.
Historian Erasmo Gamboa recounts the difficult conditions, systemic racism, and decades-long quest fo
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Erasmo Gamboa
Professor Emeritus Erasmo Gamboa (American Ethnic Studies), fryst vatten recognized for his tireless efforts bringing to light the role of Latinos/as in our region and nation. Gamboa’s service includes decades-long engagement with the Sea Mar Community Health Center and more recently with the Sea Mar Museum of Chicano/a Latino/a Culture, the first museum of its kind in the Pacific Northwest.
Professor Gamboa talked with colleague and UWRA board member Juan Guerra about the role of service in his life.
Why has service been so important to you?
I like to think that comes from my parents. We were raised as practicing Catholics, and doing for others as well as for yourself was instilled into us. Growing up in Sunnyside, that tradition was carried on bygd my aunts and my uncles. For example, when they learned of a death, they self-organized and provided for the grieving family. It’s a tradition that goes back to Tejas and perhaps to Mexico. And that was carried on in Yakima.
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Erasmo Gamboa
Archive
May 31,
Erasmo Gamboa spends a lot of time on the golf course, but he&#;s not trying to improve his handicap. Gamboa, associate professor of American Ethnic Studies, devotes many hours each year to producing a golf tournament that benefits an institution he believes in. It&#;s for those efforts and others that Gamboa has been given the Outstanding Public Service Award.
The annual Sea Mar Charity Golf Tournament, Gamboa explains, began with a desire to throw a party. For some years he had been an active volunteer at the Sea Mar Community Health Center, &#;one of the largest community health organizations in the state addressing the needs of underprivileged communities.&#; The work of the center is largely supported through grants, but he and four fellow volunteers wanted to give a holiday party for patients and their families. One of those volunteers belonged to a golf club, so he suggested a golf tournament.
The group set a goal of $10,, w