Modesto Orlando Tuzon and Rita Louise Tuzon interviewed by Dr. Kathleen "Kat" Cruz Gutierrez Part 1 of 2

In this interview, originally recorded in-person, Modesto Orlando Tuzon and Rita Louise Tuzon speak with Watsonville is in the Heart team member, Dr. Kathleen “Kat” Cruz Gutierrez. Modesto Orlando and Rita discuss their father, Modesto Jaramillio Tuzon Sr.; his migration to the United States to pursue music education during 1926; his work as a farm laborer in central California; his experiences playing music at Filipino events, small venues, and for his family; and his marriage to their mother, Linda Ardell Craner in 1954. They provide an overview of their mother’s family’s migration to central California from Idaho and her career as a reading specialist at Hall School in Las Lomas, California. Modesto Orlando and Rita also speak about their extended family and friend network in Watsonville and the Pajaro Valley and reflect on their differing experiences growing up mixed-race. Finally, Modesto Orlando discusses interviewing his father about the 1930s Watsonville Race Riots and Fermin Tobera for a paper he wrote as a college student.

Modesto Orlando Tuzon

Rita Louise Tuzon

Dr. Kathleen "Kat" Cruz Gutierrez

May 16, 2021

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

TUZ.2021.54

Dr. Kathleen "Kat" Cruz Gutierrez

Modesto Orlando Tuzon

Rita Louise Tuzon

Tuzon Residence, Los Angeles, CA

.mp4

1:50:27

[00:00] Biographical Information
[02:24] Modesto Tuzon’s migration to the US to pursue musical education in San Francisco and his farm work with cousins Leon and Cipriano Lazo and Leon and Paul DeOcampo
[5:56] Modesto Tuzon’s family background
[11:13] Modesto Tuzon’s experiences as a musician, farm worker, and his extended friends and family network
[17:12] Modesto Orlando and Rita Tuzon’s experiences as mixed-race, half-White and half- Filipino
[24:03] Racial and social dynamics in Watsonville and Pajaro Valley
[26:35] Modesto Orlando and Rita Tuzon’s differing and converging gendered experiences
[26:53] Mixed-race identity and experiences of White women in the Filipino community
[35:59] Linda Ardell Craner’s family background and career
[43:35] Modesto Tuzon and Linda Ardell Craner’s relationship and marriage
[49:48] Modesto Tuzon’s experiences as a farm worker in the Pajaro Valley
[55:05] Memories of the Tuzon family home and manong in their family network
[57:47] Modesto Orlando’s experience learning about the 1930s Watsonville Race Riots from his father
[1:05:26] Rita Tuzon’s navigation of gendered expectations and the Watsonville Filipino Community
[1:14:19] Rita Tuzon’s children’s mixed-race identities and connections to their family history