Interview with Mr. Dolores Perez 2002 July 8 (Part 1)

Perez tells about his family emigrating from Mexico to Mesa Arizona in 1920 where they homesteaded. He discusses his siblings the house on North Morris Street where he grew up and attending Sacred Heart Catholic Church. He describes downtown Mesa where his father opened a shoemaking shop on Main Street. Perez mentions several downtown businesses including the Nile Theater The Oasis (lunch counter) and some retail stores. He talks about attending Mesa schools working in his fathers shoe shop and going to California to pick grapes in the summer. He tells how he met his wife where they lived and he talks about his son daughter and three grandchildren. Perez discusses race relations between blacks whites and Mexicans and the discrimination faced by Japanese residents during World War II. He also talks about how he loves living in Mesa and about how happy his family makes him.