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Contributing Institution:
Chicano Studies Research Center Library
Title: Pedro J. Gonzalez Papers
Creator:
Gonzalez, Pedro J.
Identifier/Call Number: CSRC.0060
Physical Description:
15 linear feet
Date (inclusive): 1890-1995
Abstract: A telegraph operator for Pancho Villa during the Mexican Revolution; a radio personality and popular recording artist in Los
Angeles; an immigration activist framed for political purposes and sent to San Quentin prison; and finally, a man fighting
for the rights of his fellow veterans of the Division Del Norte in Mexico for plots of land (ejidos) that they could call
their own. Pedro Gonzalez played all these roles and this collection consists of his papers, correspondence, music, serialized
fiction about him, and many photographs and photo montages documenting his interests and those who participated in his active
life.
Physical Location: COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF. Advance notice required for access. Contact the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center Library
and Archive for paging information.
Language of Material:
English
.
Open for research.
Collection donated to UCLA by Pedro J. Gonzalez; letter of gift on file at the CSRC archive office, 144 Haines Hall.
The material is organized in the following series:
- Series 1. Correspondence and ephemera
- Series 2. Spanish-language radio and music
- Series 3. Court case and imprisonment
- Series 4. Veterans of the Mexican Revolution
- Series 5. Subject files
- Series 6. Photographs
- Series 7. Audio recordings
The files are in the order determined by the previous archivists.
Pedro Jose Gonzalez Ramos was born on April 28, 1895 in Carrizal, Chihuahua, Mexico. In his youth, his schoolteacher mother
emphasized the importance of education and sent him to school in Ciudad Juarez and El Paso, Texas. In 1909, at the age of
14, Pedro became a telegraph operator with the Ferrocarriles Nacionales de Mexico (Mexican National Railroads). One year later,
the Mexican Revolution erupted, but Pedro continued his work with the railroads until 1914 when he was drafted into Francisco
Pancho Villa's Division del Norte (the Northern Division). Pedro served as Villa's telegraph operator under the command of
Raul Madero (brother of former Mexican president Francisco Madero). In 1916 the United States recognized Venustiano Carranza
instead of Pancho Villa as the legitimate leader of Mexico. Villa and his troops fell out of favor in both the U.S. and Mexico.
Pedro found work loading mail at the train station in El Paso, Texas and later across the border as a telegraph operator in
Ciudad Juarez. In 1921 he returned to work as a telegraph operator with the Ferrocariles Nacionales de Mexico in Tampico,
Taumalipas, Mexico, and then in Chico, Chihuahua, Mexico.
In 1924 he was working as a telegraph operator with the Mexican and Northwest Railroad in El Paso, Texas. Three years later
he left his job in El Paso to take his family to Los Angeles. They settled in Wilmington, CA, where Pedro worked as a longshoreman
on the docks in San Pedro. Shortly after, he began to exploit his musical talent and recorded Spanish-language songs for the
Columbia, Okeh, and Maya record companies.
Pedro's experience as a telegraph operator along with his fascination with new technologies led him into the early years of
radio broadcasting in Los Angeles. Working at KMTR, KFBD, KMPC and KELW in Los Angeles, he broadcast and recorded commercials
in Spanish for U.S. companies and products. Soon Pedro sought out commercial accounts and formed his own radio show, becoming
one of the first Spanish-speaking radio announcers in the United States. By 1930 his immensely popular show was broadcast
daily between 4 and 6 a.m. and featured his own musical group, Los Madrugadores (The Early Risers). In Los Angeles in the
1930s many new Spanish-speaking singers and musicians made their debuts on Pedro's radio program. Pedro J. Gonzalez fan clubs
sprung up over the Southwest and thousands of radio listeners clamored to attend the show.
By the mid-1930s the Great Depression intensified anti-immigrant attitudes in Los Angeles. Pedro's immense popularity made
some Los Angeles city officials fearful of Pedro's potential influence among the Mexican and Spanish-speaking population.
They feared Pedro might rally his listeners against the Anglos in the city. After unsuccessfully trying to revoke his broadcasting
license, city officials found a young woman who had had problems with the law and pressured her into accusing Pedro of rape.
The trial drew the immediate attention of the media. The key witness perjured herself, but in 1934 the all-Anglo jury sent
the Mexican community's most popular recording star to San Quentin prison for 50 years. Novels and plays were written about
his case. In Los Angeles, the young victim said she had lied because the city officials had promised to keep her out of reform
school if she accused Pedro. The judge refused to admit her affidavit. In prison, Pedro served as a translator and de facto
liaison helping fellow Spanish-speaking inmates and was instrumental in a hunger strike that led to the reforms in the California
penal system. Pedro J. Gonzalez defense committees sprung up throughout the Southwest and northern Mexico. Pedro's family,
fans, and the Mexican consul in Los Angeles worked tirelessly on his behalf until 1940, when he was released from prison on
the condition that he be deported from the United States.
Pedro and his family settled in Tijuana where Pedro was instrumental in the development of the radio broadcasting industry.
He formed a new group of Madrugadores and broadcast daily. While living in Tijuana, Pedro became active in forming a national
organization to recognize and defend the rights of the veterans of the Mexican Revolution. The organization was able to get
land grants for veterans as well as health and pension benefits. The land grants were given in the form of ejidos, and Pedro
kept detailed records of their activities and of the owners of each of the land parcels. His activities frequently put him
at odds with the ambitions of local politicians and land speculators.
In 1973 Pedro and his wife moved to San Ysidro, California to escape the opposition against Pedro in Tijuana and to be near
their children, all U.S. citizens who had settled in southern California. He continued his activities in support of the Mexican
veterans and of the civil rights of people of Mexican heritage in the U.S. until his death on March 17, 1995.
[Identification of item], Pedro J. Gonzalez Papers, 60, Chicano Studies Research Center, UCLA, University of California, Los
Angeles.
Processed by Lorena Parlee and Michael Stone, 2009. Finding aid edited by Doug Johnson, June 2018.
This collection contains material spanning the long life and various careers of Pedro J. Gonzalez. It documents his service
with Pancho Villa during the Mexican Revolution, his time as a radio personality and recording artist in Los Angeles, his
imprisonment at San Quentin on a trumped-up rape charge, and his activism on behalf of veterans of the Mexican Revolution.
It consists of correspondence, photographs, clippings, song lyrics, court documents, ephemera, and material on music copyright
and royalties. There are several 78 rpm audio recordings, mostly of Gonzalez's band Los Madrugadores. There is also a great
deal of material on ejidos, the communal farms that were often granted to veterans of the Mexican Revolution.
These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. The user
must assume full responsibility for any use of materials, including but not limited to infringement of copyright and publication
rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.
The original authors may retain copyright to the materials.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
California State Prison at San Quentin
Mexico--History--Revolution, 1910-1920
Veterans
Collectivization of agriculture
Ejidos
Agriculture, Cooperative--Mexico
Villa, Pancho, 1878-1923
Madrugadores (Musical group)