Clara (Ramirez) Bucia and Thomas Ramirez La Yarda Interview

Clara (Ramirez) Bucia and Thomas Ramirez La Yarda Interview

La Yarda (Lawrence, Kan.)

Mexican Americans -- Housing -- Kansas -- Lawrence

Mexican Americans -- History -- Kansas -- Lawrence

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

Clara (Ramirez) Bucia and her brother Thomas Ramirez 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. Clara and Thomas lived with their parents and eleven siblings in the La Yarda neighborhood. They describe their family's migration from Mexico to Lawrence, and the living conditions and social activities in La Yarda. They discuss family foodways and healthcare, as well as their work experiences growing up. Clara and Thomas discuss their experiences attending Lawrence schools and as part of the congregation of St. John's Church, as well as their experiences of discrimination and segregation in Lawrence. Both Clara and Thomas served in the military, and share their thoughts about how their service shaped their understanding of their experiences with discrimination in Lawrence.

Bucia, Clara

Ramirez, Thomas

La Yarda Oral History Project

Watkins Community Museum (Lawrence, Kan.)

2006

Krische, Helen

Raymond, Emily

Rumback, Ellie

Published with the permission of Sharon Villegas on behalf of Clara Bucia, and Josephine Ramirez on behalf of Thomas Ramirez. 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/22-cbucia-tramirez-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

22-CBuciaTRamirez-2006.mp4 (video)

22-CBuciaTRamirez-2006.mp3 (audio)

22-CBuciaTRamirez-2006.pdf (transcription)

Lawrence (Kan.)

1920s - 1970s

Krische, Helen

Raymond, Emily

Rumback, Ellie

Bucia, Clara

Ramirez, Thomas

MP4

01:13:51 (video)

00:47:16 (audio)

86 kbps

2870 kbps