Saavedra de López, Benigna (Albuquerque, NM)

Authors

• mss 565 015

Document Type

Audio

Publication Date

6-20-1984

Comments

She was an heiress of La Merced de Atrisco. Memories of her childhood in Atrisco. Her brother Filomeno was a commissioner of La Merced. She did not pay attention to how the Merced system worked until she became an adult and got married. Her parents were farmers. They used to grow chile. There was not electricity nor tap water when she was a child. They used to have a 'noria' a well from which they got the water for their consumption. Talks about the discipline and good behavior instilled by her mother. Her mother encouraged her to go to school. The teachers and people she remembers from her school time. Speaking Spanish in school was banned. When teachers caught children speaking Spanish, they punished them. Memories of her youthhood and the bailes in Atrisco. Her family used to go to San José church. Dust roads and no motorized cars, but horses. There were no doctors around and common diseases of the time were treated with herbs. 'La gente se curaba con hierbas'. Las parteras y curanderas. Babies were born at home not in the hospital. Conversation ends with a piece of music that the interviewee plays on the piano.

Recommended Citation

Atrisco Oral History Project (MSS 565), Center for Southwest Research and Special Collections, University Libraries, University of New Mexico.