San Bernardino Santa Fe DepotOral History ProjectPhone interview by Kimberly Haysom
Nellie GonzalezSan Bernardino Native90 years oldI spoke with Nellie the morning of May 15, 2009 at 10:33 a.m., she was very sweet and excitedto speak with me about her husband, father, grandfather, the barrio, and the Santa Fe Shops inSan Bernardino, California. At first contact she was hesitant to tell me much about her husband because she did not want to tell me anything that will affect her sons. When I asked her why, shestated,“I’ll be sincere with you, you know, my life was not so great. I lived in a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom very small home near Rialto Street with my in laws and my 10 kids. So you canimagine what kind of life I had. I was the in home maid. I wasn’t allowed out of thehouse, servant to my mother in law.”During our conversation she mentioned to me that she would not be the best person to talk toabout Santa Fe Railroad or the shops because she never got to leave her home or work, she alsotold me that her husband was working a lot and her life revolved around her kids and home life.At which point I decided not to request a recorded interview from her. Nellie did say some interesting things about her side of the family. She told me that her familycame to California from Mexico, her grandfather, Joaquim Naber worked as a welder for SantaFe in the late 1800s through her early child hood; he died when she was an infant. Her father,Jose Gregorio Naber worked for Santa Fe Railroads, then the shops from 1910 until hisretirement which was probably in the late 50s, early 60s. Her father also opened an open air market in San Bernardino to make extra income. Nellie explained that Santa Fe gave her familylife with her parents wonderful, they never suffered for food or clothes, and they never sufferedfrom any economic hardships. When she left her parents’ home in 1937 to get married to her husband, Juan Gonzalez, her mother and father helped her with food and money for her childrenas they had 10 children and she did not work.I asked Nellie if her husband had a nickname at the railroads and she said she didn’t know because she wasn’t allowed there, she never left home, but she said they called him John or Johnny. I also asked her if she knew anyone else that may be willing to speak to me, she told methat all her friends and family that worked for Santa Fe lived on Mt. Vernon and 6
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Street, it was pretty popular because they all worked for Santa Fe, unfortunately they have all passed away.“Those were really good time, we were all happy with our home life, our life.”She repeated many times that she was fortunate and thankful to Santa Fe. Nellie told me that her sister, Anita Galvan worked for Santa Fe for a very long time and she is still alive, she has health problems but I am probably going to meet with her next week.
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