Pedro (Pete) Romero La Yarda Interview

Pedro (Pete) Romero La Yarda Interview

La Yarda (Lawrence, Kan.)

Mexican Americans -- Housing -- Kansas -- Lawrence

Mexican Americans -- History -- Kansas -- Lawrence

Mexican Americans -- Social conditions -- Kansas -- Lawrence

Pedro (Pete) Romero was interviewed by Helen Krische on May 23, 2006, and then by Emily Raymond on January 29 and February 4, 2021, as part of an oral history project to document the La Yarda and Mexican-American communities in Lawrence, Kansas. Pedro lived with his parents and siblings in Lawrence's La Yarda neighborhood. La Yarda was a neighborhood of worker housing provided by the Santa Fe Railroad for Mexican-American railroad workers; located near the Kansas (Kaw) River; the neighborhood was largely destroyed by a major flood in 1951. In the 2006 interview, Pedro and Helen discuss photos and drawings of the Santa Fe depot and the La Yarda area. Pedro also describes his family's migration from Mexico to Lawrence, his father's experiences as a railroad worker, and his experiences growing up in La Yarda and East Lawrence. In the 2021 interviews, Pedro talks about how he met his wife, their involvement with St. John's Catholic Church, and their two sons. He also also describes his family's relationships with other Mexican-American families in Lawrence, their experiences attending local schools and playing sports, their family's foodways and social life, and experiences of discrimination and segregation faced by the Mexican-American community in Lawrence.

Romero, Pedro (Pete)

La Yarda Oral History Project

Watkins Community Museum (Lawrence, Kan.)

2006, January and February 2021

Raymond, Emily

Published with the permission of Peter Romero. This work is the intellectual property of the Watkins Museum of History, Lawrence, Kansas. The public may freely copy, modify, and share this Item for noncommercial purposes if they include the original source information. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

To access the audio recording of these interviews, go to https://archive.org/details/6-promero-202102204.

The Watkins Museum of History also holds items related to this collection.

Additional research on the La Yarda community is held at the Spencer Research Library at the University of Kansas.

MP3 (audio recording)

PDF (transcription)

Oral History

2006 interview: 25-PRomero-2006.mp3 (audio)/25-PRomero-2006.pdf (transcription)

2021-01-29 interview: 5-PRomero-20210129.mp3 (audio)/5-PRomero-20210129.pdf (transcription)

2021-02-04 interview: 6-PRomero-20210204.mp3 (audio)/6-PRomero-20210204.pdf (transcription)

Lawrence (Kan.)

1920s - 1970s

Raymond, Emily

Romero, Pedro (Pete)

MP3

00:47:18 (2006)

00:19:03 (2021-01-29)

01:30:46 (2021-02-04)

84 kbps (2006)/192 kbps (2021)