Mariano "Mario" Telodro Sulay interviewed by Dr. Kathleen "Kat" Cruz Gutierrez

In this interview, originally recorded via Zoom, Mariano Sulay speaks with Dr. Kathleen "Kat" Cruz Gutierrez, a member of the Watsonville is in the Heart project team. Sulay recounts his experience growing up in the Pajaro Valley after the 1960s. Sulay recounts memories of his father at the end of his career as an agricultural worker. In addition, he shares memories of his mother's engagement in social clubs such as the Filipino Community and the decline of her involvement later in life. He also discusses his experience growing up as a mixed-race Filipino and learning about the Watsonville Riots later in his life.

Mariano "Mario" Telodro Sulay and Dr. Kathleen "Kat" Cruz Gutierrez

June 17, 2020

Watsonville is in the Heart (WIITH) is a community-driven public history initiative to preserve and uplift stories of Filipino migration and labor in the city of Watsonville and greater Pajaro Valley. All oral history interviews are donated to WIITH by the narrators. Copyright is held by WIITH. Oral history interview recordings and transcripts are available for unrestricted use and reproduction by educators and researchers. Please note that the recordings on this website are provided via Soundcloud. For access to oral history audio files, please contact the project director at wiith@ucsc.edu. If you are an oral history narrator and would like to remove your interview from the archive website, please contact the project director.

English

Oral History

SUL.2021. 65

Dr. Kathleen "Kat" Cruz Gutierrez

Mariano "Mario" Telodro Sulay

Zoom

.m4a

1:38:50

[00:54] Sulay family background

[4:01] Mother, Virginia Viner Sulay’s and Father, Mamerto “Max” Sulay’s migration stories

[5:28] Mario’s childhood in Watsonville

[8:00] Virginia’s involvement in the Filipino Women’s Club of Watsonville

[15:00] Leisure activities: dances at Watsonville Veterans Hall, barbeques, and cockfights

[19:00] Neighborhood racial dynamics

[24:00] Max’s career as a field laborer

[28:34] Max’s opposition to United Farm Workers [UFW] and tensions within the movement

[30:00] Learning about the Watsonville Race Riots

[34:47] Mixed-race Identity

[38:44] Challenges in Virginia’s and Max’s marriage

[43:54] Max’s personality

[49:17] Virginia’s personality

[54:41] Grandmother, Evelyn Wooster Viner’s writings about Filipinos

[1:03:09] Mario’s marriage to wife Rebecca, career as a police officer, and forming a family

[1:17:00] Physical and cultural evolution of Watsonville

[1:25:29] Changes within the Filipino community in Watsonville

[1:28:18] Fermin Tobera and the City of Watsonville’s apology for the 1930s Race Riots