Israel Bermudez and Rachel Lemus La Yarda Interview

Israel Bermudez and Rachel Lemus La Yarda Interview

La Yarda (Lawrence, Kan.)

Mexican Americans -- Housing -- Kansas -- Lawrence

Mexican Americans -- History -- Kansas -- Lawrence

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

Siblings Israel Bermudez and Rachel (Bermudez) Lemus were interviewed by Helen Krische in 2006 as part of an oral history project to document the La Yarda and Mexican-American communities in Lawrence, Kansas. 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. The interview is split into two parts. Israel and Rachel grew up in East Lawrence; their family came to Lawrence in the late 1920s due to their father's work on the railroad. Israel and Rachel describe their family's journey from Mexico to Lawrence, their school experiences, and their experiences of discrimination and segregation as part of the Mexican-American community in Lawrence. Israel served in the military and shares some memories from that time. Rachel and Israel also describe daily life in their neighborhood, including work, childhood pasttimes, foodways, and funeral customs.

Bermudez, Israel

Lemus, Rachel

La Yarda Oral History Project

Watkins Community Museum (Lawrence, Kan.)

2006

Krische, Helen

Raymond, Emily

Published with the permission of Israel Bermudez and Rachel Lemus. 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 video and audio recordings of this interview, go to https://archive.org/details/16-ibermudez-rlemus-2006.

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.

MP4 (video recording)

MP3 (audio recording)

PDF (transcription)

Oral History

16-IBermudezRLemus-2006.mp4 (video)

16a-IBermudezRLemus-2006.mp3 (audio)/16a-IBermudezRLemus-2006.pdf (transcription)

16b-IBermudezRLemus-2006.mp3 (audio)/16b-IBermudezRLemus-2006.pdf (transcription)

Lawrence (Kan.)

1920s - 1970s

Krische, Helen

Raymond, Emily

Bermudez, Israel

Lemus, Rachel

MP4

01:13:36 (video)

00:31:49 (16a audio)

00:31:46 (16b audio)

83 kbps (16a)

90 kbps (16b)

4376 kbps