Correspondence between Vela family members written primarily as one brother prepares to immigrate from Mexico to the United States.

Margarito Vela (1878-1973) lived in Guanajuato, Mexico with his wife, Juana (1903-1965), and two daughters, Dolores and Julia. In 1926 Margarito and his family immigrated to the United States along wife Juana’s father, Juan Vargas (1860-1952). They took a train from Guanajuato to Juarez and from Juarez crossed the International Bridge into El Paso, Texas. The family paid eight dollars per person to enter El Paso on 1926 November 8. They eventually joined Margarito’s older brother, Valentín, in Sawtelle, California, a small community within Santa Monica. His father-in-law, Juan, worked in the Long Beach shipyards until the end of World War I in 1918.

.25 linear feet

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