A People’s History of the Inland Empire Digital Archive

Pauline Aciero Oral History

2024.021.005

Oral History

Pauline Aciero discusses growing up in the Valley and attending Saint Mark’s church for 40 years. Her dad had moved to California from Mississippi in 1940 when he was 14 years old, following his brother. Her family later moved from Barstow into a house in the Valley on Waterman Avenue when she was just 2 years old. She says that her dad tore down a gas station to build their, which was still standing at the time she was interviewed. She reminisces about the produce and animals that people would grow and raise in the Valley, and how nice the people in the community were. Aciero discusses being drawn to Saint Mark’s by its friendly people, including pastor Freeman Williams, who she says was great. Her son attended Mill School, although she did not. Now living three and a half miles from the church and still attending it, Aciero says she has seen a great deal of change and many properties being sold in San Bernardino. She thinks the Valley should be remembered for the way community members shared with and trusted in one another.

Community life in San Bernardino

Family

Mill School

St. Mark's Missionary Baptist Church

Valley Truck Farms, San Bernardino (Calif.)

1940s-2023

Pauline Aciero

Jennifer Tilton

2023

A People's History of the I.E.

.mp4

English

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