A People’s History of the Inland Empire Digital Archive

Items

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  Sierra Vista Label

  The picture is a label from the Sierra Vista citrus plant in which much of the Venegas family, including Joe and Robert Venegas, worked for many years.
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  L.V.W. Brown Estate "Mahala" Label

  Pictured is a label marked with "Mahala" from the L.V.W. Brown Estate citrus grove site in Riverside, California. The Venegas family -- Joe Venegas and his sons -- worked at this location together picking oranges.
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  Robert and Joe Venegas

  Pictured are Joe Venegas (father) and Robert "Junie" Venegas (son). Robert was the eldest son of Joe Venegas and began working with him at the age of thirteen. Robert continued working in the groves until 1945 when he joined the army. The photograph's location is described to be a citrus grove located between Victoria Avenue and Nelson Street in Riverside, California.
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  Robert "Junie" Venegas

  Pictured is Robert "Junie" Venegas, the eldest son of the Venegas family, picking oranges in Moreno Valley. Behind him are several crates full of citrus fruit. Recounted in interviews by Manuel Venegas, workers, such as Robert "Junie," were paid by the crate.
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  Joe and Ygnacia Venegas: Outdoors

  Photograph of Joe Venegas and Ygnacia Hernandez Venegas standing outside in Riverside, California. Ygnacia, from Chihuahua, Mexico, and Joe, from Mexicali, Mexico, met in Riverside. They raised seven children together: Molly, Robert, Rosa, Josie, Isabel, Joe, and Manuel. They lived their whole lives on 11th Street in Riverside.
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  Joe and Ygnacia Venegas: Photograph

  Photograph of married couple Joe Venegas and Ygnacia Hernandez Venegas. Ygnacia, from Chihuahua, Mexico, and Joe, from Mexicali, Mexico, met in Riverside. They raised seven children together: Molly, Robert, Rosa, Josie, Isabel, Joe, and Manuel.
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  Braceros at L.V.W. Brown Estate

  Photograph of braceros from the citrus industry working at the L.V.W. Brown Estate in Riverside, California. Pictured on the bottom left: Joe Venegas and Joe Venegas, Jr. During his time at L.V.W. Brown Estate, Joe Venegas gained a good reputation for being reliable, responsible, and a hard worker, furthering him to his promotion to foreman. He then continued to work in the citrus industry for fifty years.