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Theresa Valdez, Diana Lee Atler, William Parnall, recorders, 1969, 1970

 Item — Box: 2, CD: 140

Scope and Contents

Valdez, 1969: Rafael Gallegos, b. 1937, Rutherton, NM. 1. Oracion (reads a folk prayer on the death of Christ); 2. De colores (fair recording, sings an old Galicia, Spain, folk song, very popular among church groups); 3. Oracion (recites a folk prayer to St. Joseph asking to be saved from an unrepentant death); 4. Entriega de novios (fair to poor recording, recites, reads a version from Rutherton, New Mexico, in which troubador delivers the newly weds to their respective in laws, relatives, and the community in general, wedding song, marriage).

Jose Maria Martinez, b. 1897, Park View, NM. 1. La gallinita (Jose Maria tells about a little chicken that tries to upset a basket so she can eat its contents, master of house shoos her away, says she as selfish as people he knows, fable); 2. Ramoncito (Ramoncito is a selfish boy, he is very rude toward his schoolmates, on his way home one day a dog is about to bite him but Ramoncito is rescued by another boy, next day they will not play with him and call him a coward, children, education, school, peer pressure, moral story); 3. Dos hermanas (two sisters, Luisa and Maria are complete opposites, Luisa is a very meticulous person while Maria is not, they end up not talking to each other, moral story, family, women); 4. Ricardo (Ricardo is a very nice boy, when his mother is sick, he stays home from school to care for her, when she is well he gives her flowers from the yard, she expresses her deep appreciation for what her son does for her, moral tale, family, education); 5. Discurso de Francisco Madero (Jose was so impressed by Francisco Madero's speech delivered to the Mexican congress in 1911 that he has kept it through the years, liked part about separation of Church and State, politics, Mexican Revolution); 6. El cortaplumas (a boy and his sister find a small penknife, writing pen, the girl wants to keep it but the boy decides to turn it into the school teacher, the owner of the penknife later rewards the two children, moral story, education); 7. Hijo de un pobre labrador (a poor boy son of a laborer, meets a school teacher and gives her a partridge, she feels sorry for the ragged child, offers him choice of a hat or shoes, he prefers to learn to read, she arranges for him to come to school, moral story, poverty, education); 8. Americanas y mejicanas (Jose Maria reads a trovo or poetic contest between American and Mexican, Mexico, girls, from before the Southwest was part of the United States, before 1848, the Anglo American girls think they are better because they ride in buggies and cook on iron stoves, Mexicanas prefer their adobe stoves and donkeys, burros, folk poetry, women); 9. Fermin, hijo de la viuda (Fermin has been taught to be honest, one day he sells an orange to a man who gives the boy a silver dollar instead of a quarter, he returns the overpayment to the man, the man hires Fermin's mother to babysit his children and Fermin to be a model for them, moral story, work, employment); 10. Un ranchero (a rancher leaves behind him a bottle of water, a crow sees the bottle with the water and figures out how to drink from it, fable, animals); 11. Amor de madre (a man and a woman have an affair and the woman bears a child, years later the woman's son saves the woman from death, when she tells the young man her story, he makes his father marry his mother, moral story, marriage, women).

Federico Valdez, b. 1913, Park View, NM. 1. Historia de sembrar (some people farm with oxen, while others farm with their hands because they do not own farm animals, tells about harvesting wheat, flour mills); 2. Don Cacahuate (Don Cacahuate buries a wooden dummy under his house, one day downtown he cannot find a ride home, goes to the police and reports he has a dead man under his house, gets police to drive him home, anecdote); 3. El diezmo de las primicias (an Native American Indian pays his tithes with a cow, the people collecting the tithes tell him that God will reward him ten fold, that night the Indian's cow comes home followed by ten other cows from the church yard, folk tale, religion, church, faith).

Atler, 1969: Joe Lucero, b. 1937, Gallup, NM. 1. El libro negro (relato, a man studies the Black Book for six months, one night he is told a rider will pick him up, later the man falls sick and lies in bed for six months, after which time he dies, devil, Black Arts, evil, witches, muerte, death); 2. El diablo en el baile (supernatural story, at a dance a stranger comes in, asks the prettiest girl to dance, she does, he turns out to be the devil, she makes the sign of the cross, man disappears, leaving her body full of scratch marks); 3. El tesoro y el diablo (relato, two men are digging and find gold under a house, a huge man appears and claims the treasure, first digger faints and second flees with gold, he hears the huge man telling him that he will be paralyzed and then die, later this is exactly what happens, muerte, death); 4. Rina entre el hombre y el diablo (folk tale, a son follows his father when he goes out at night during Lent, he finds his father fighting with the devil and covered in scratches); 5. El diablo con las patas de vaca (relato, a good looking man walks into a bar in Gallup, New Mexico, buys drinks for all those present, as he walks out the door the people notice that his feet are like claws. devil, drinking, liquor); 6. Cuento de Ghost Ranch (explanatory tale, travellers stop for the night at a small ranch, at night they are awakened by a great commotion as of Indians and cowboys fighting one another, next morning the people find no trace of anyone there, the place is named Ghost Ranch, New Mexico, origin of name, Abiquiu); 7. El dinero de oro (relato, a woman finds some paper money which is gold in color, takes it home and people tease her it is not gold, she throws the paper money in the fire but it does not burn, supernatural story); 8. Tesoro perdido (relato, a woman tells some men where they can find buried treasure, but they must not say anything while digging it, one man hits a Box with his shovel but shouts here it is and the Box disappears from the hole); 9. El soldado muerto (supernatural story, a New Mexico soldier in Viet Nam writes he will be home soon, but is killed in battle before that day, later a drunk sees the soldier get off the bus and walking home, so do other people, no one can explain what they see, ghost story, Vietnam War, military, death, muerte, ghost story).

Morris Montano, b. 1902, Valencia, NM. 1. El adivino (a king fills a bag with human excretion, hangs it from rafter, anyone who can guess what the bag contains will marry the princess, a bum guesses caca and gets to marry the princess, folk tale); 2. El minero y los difuntos (a miner has been going to the mine much earlier than any one else, one day the foreman gets their first, when the miner arrives he hears someone asking for water, he thinks he is hearing ghosts and leaves the premises, mining, ghost story, anecdote); 3. La Llorona (anecdote, variant, story of man who works late, goes home in early hours of the morning, he hears cries like the ghost Llorona, one night two brothers set up a fence and trap him as he goes by, he falls on the wire, is never heard of again); 4. El cuento de San Antonio (ladies of a church are waiting for a statue of St. Anthony to arrive from another parish, its head is broken off and the women put another saint's head on the broken image, a drunk comes in, sees the mismatched head, wonders what the women will do to him, anecdote, drinking, religion, faith); 5. El borracho y el diablo (a drunk at a bar says that it is so cold and so far to his house that he would go with the devil if the latter were to come, the devil does come and takes him home, reply of the drunk man anecdote, drinking).

Parnall, 1970: Carlos A. Gamez, b. 1901, Chihuahua. 1. Prueba optica (a professor is giving his medical students a test, he puts his finger in a body's wound then puts his finger in his mouth, he asks one student to tell him which finger he has used for both actions, they answer wrong, need to come back next year because cannot see well, anecdote, education, medicine); 2. El caballo del lebanes (Part I, a large crowd is seen gathered around a poor man who is caressing the head of his dead horse, anecdote, Lebanon, continued).

Dates

  • 1969, 1970

Language of Materials

From the Collection: English, Spanish

Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Extent

From the Collection: 13 boxes (12.25 cu. ft.)

Creator

Repository Details

Part of the UNM Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections Repository

Contact:
University of New Mexico Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections
University Libraries, MSC05 3020
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque NM 87131
505-277-6451