Stories of Lupe Rivas

Lupe Rivas is one of the pioneers of bilingual education in Bakersfield. She now lives, teaches, and is politically active in Watsonville.

Rivas grew up in Texas, the oldest of 7 children. Her father was an auto body repairman, while her mother worked as a housekeeper. The family did field work, as well, traveling to Michigan as seasonal laborers. Her stories tell of making dolls of the overgrown cucumbers in the field while her parents worked, of gleaning strawberries, of the move to California and her transition from field work to store work to teaching there, and of her attempts to introduce her children and grandchildren to the experience of field work.

Listen to Lupe Rivas's stories