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McSweyn, Margarita Salazar (audio interview #2 of 3)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This is the second of three interviews with Margarita Salazar McSweyn conducted in the living room of her small, comfortable home in East Los Angeles. As before, she seemed to enjoy the interview process, although she became rather subdued and sad in talking about her brother's death. This interview covers her defense work at Lockheed during the war. The overall audio quality of this interview is good although there are technical problem on the first sides of the tapes. 11/3/1980
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- 2021-07-26
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- SUBJECT BIO - Margarita Salazar McSweyn was twenty five when she went to work at the Lockheed subassembly plant in Los Angeles in 1942. She had been working as a beautician, and kept hearing stories from her clients about the good money to be had in aircraft. Born in New Mexico, the fourth daughter in a large family, Margie - as she called herself - was an infant when the family moved to Los Angeles. Nine years later, they family became one of the first Mexican families to move into the predominantly Jewish neighborhood of Boyle Heights. Her life revolved around her family, and as she became older, around the Mexican social club to which she belonged. After completing high school, McSweyn went to beauty college and began working as a beauty operator. Eager to be involved in the war effort, the way her brothers were, she took a job in defense and also joined the Civilian Defense Corps, whose uniforms were patterned after the ones worn by WAVES. By war's end, she returned to work in the field of cosmetology, working her way into a white-collar job. She continued working after marrying in 1945, until the birth of her first son. After that, she worked on and off, until 1970. Margie was above all, a family woman, and the oral history interviews with her became a family affair, although everyone was instructed not to interrupt us during my visits. Nevertheless, I met and visited with her husband and one of her sons, and they all followed the progress of the interviews. She proudly displayed not only her own sewing and crocheting, but also the cradle that her husband handcrafted. A pert, youthful woman at the time of the interviews, it was nevertheless difficult for McSweyn to sit for long stretches due to a chronic severe back problem. However, she became so absorbed in telling her story that she forgot her discomfort. She enjoyed reminiscing, and her oral history was often punctuated with laughter, except when she spoke about the deaths in her family. Then she would drift into a melancholy reverie. TOPICS - father's death; gender expectations; family history; social activities; Spanish social clubs; Young Soul Club; social values; gang activity in Los Angeles; attitude towards Pachucos and zoot-suiters; Note: the audzoot-suiters and gang activity in Los Angeles; brother's death; meeting husband; advertisements for defense work; application process at Lockheed; work clothing; and job responsibilities;description of Lockheed plant; on-the-job training; work force demographics; job responsibilities; friends; work breaks; Citizen Defense Corps;; work schedule; working conditions; wages; and social activities;Topics on this side of the tape includes: social activities; rationing; family history; brothers' military service; effect of war on social life; tool shed assignment; job responsibilities; gender relations and dating at Lockheed; husband and marriage; wo
- *** File: rrrmmcsweyn5.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-5:02)... Brief interviewer introduction. There are several skips on this tape and the audio quality fades in and out. Before McSweyn's father died, he instructed her sister Rose to get a lawyer to settle his estate. In many ways, her father had specific gender expectations for his children. He sheltered his daughters and wanted them to pursue marriage and a family. He expected his sons to have careers. She digresses regarding her sister Ruth who died when her appendix burst during childbirth. (5:02-8:12)... Note: the audio quality in this segment is poor due to technical difficulties with the tape. When McSweyn's family moved back to Boyle Heights after her father's death, her brothers were in school. McSweyn worked at a doctor's office taking appointments and her sister Rose worked at a hat millinery and went to night school. (8:12-13:19)... Note: the audio quality in this segment is poor due to technical difficulties with the tape. McSweyn's parents sheltered their children and they were supervised at all times. Even as an adult, McSweyn was prohibited from going to social dances or participating in other social activities without the company of her sister or a friend. She joined social clubs and started attending dances when she was in her early twenties. At the time, there were about five Spanish clubs in the Los Angeles area. Although cocktails were served at social functions, she never saw anyone get out of control. The Mexican community encouraged activities that were wholesome and the kids were always closely supervised by adults. (13:19-20:48)... Note: the audio quality in this segment is poor due to technical difficulties with the tape. She heard about Young Soul, a Spanish club, through word of mouth. New members went through an initiation process. Club meetings were held at their sponsor's home, Mrs. Martinez. When the number of members increased, they rented a hall and held meetings there on Sundays. At meetings, decisions were made about upcoming events and an accounting was made of the money earned during social functions. There was a secretary and a bookkeeper who helped manage the club. McSweyn discusses some of the activities planned by the club, which included the Black and White Ball in Los Angeles. (20:48-24:32)... McSweyn had many acquaintances but spent all of her time with her sister Rose and her friend Molly. McSweyn's brother Joe was attending college on an athletic scholarship when he was killed at the age of twenty. She does not recall there being very much gang activity in Los Angeles in the early 1930s. Gang activity did not escalate until the outbreak of WWII. At that time, she was involved in social club activities and church events. She was not affected by gang activity until her brother's death. (24:32-27:06)... The people in her social circle did not approve of zoot-suiters and distanced themselves from those people. The pants that her brother and her male friends wore were "relaxed", but were not exaggerated like the style of dress worn by Pachucos and zoot-suiters. Many people believed that zoot-suiters were a fad and would fade from the scene. She thought that these people were high school drop outs with too much time on their hands. End of tape. *** File: rrrmmcsweyn6.mp3 (0:00-2:09)... Note: the tape is fast forwarded in this segment on a few occasions. McSweyn believes that the zoot-suit movement was a gradual development. When her brother was killed they were not aware there was a problem with gang activity. She very rarely saw zoot-suits on the street when she went to work or attended social club events. They referred to zoot-suiters as Pachucos. The girls involved with Pachucos were viewed as an inferior class of women with loose morals. She does not recall hearing them referred to as whores. (2:09-8:30)... McSweyn's brother was killed around 1943. She had to identify her brother's body when he was found dead. The police did not want to admit that his death was a result of gang activity and passed it off as an incident involving a jealous love triangle. Her brother's death was a tragedy in the community and his murderers were never caught. Her mother became very protective over her three remaining sons after Joe's death. (8:30-9:17)... She vaguely recalls the zoot-suit riots. She was too busy with work to pay attention to the events. At the time, her family was living across the street from Roosevelt High School. (9:17-11:40)... McSweyn worked as a beauty operator with her friend Molly for about four years before the war broke out. She digresses regarding the first time she met her husband. He wanted to marry her right away but she was not ready to take that step. Their relationship was on-again off-again because he was impatient and pressured her to marry him. She did not decide agree to marry him until he went into the service during WWII. He was stationed in Germany and held as a POW. By the time she agreed to marry her husband, she was employed at Lockheed. (11:40-15:49)... She left beauty operating because "the money was in defense." She was excited about helping the war effort and making good money at the same time. Advertisements recruiting women for defense work were posted everywhere. The literature said that women would be expected to operate a rivet gun and other types of machinery. She heard the work was difficult and taxing on women's legs. She figured she would try it out and if it did not work out she would return to beauty operating. People wondered why she would give up a "clean" job to go into defense work. She was the first woman in her social circle to get a job in defense. In the end, she was disappointed at the amount of money she earned. (15:49-18:42)... McSweyn expected that working in defense would be a new experience; a lucrative one at that. She heard that the defense companies were paying a union wage and time and a half for overtime. She applied at Lockheed because it was closer to her house than the other defense plants. The Lockheed plant was located on Seventh below the bridge. She was hired at the plant and started working once the company confirmed she was a US citizen. (18:42-20:51)... Her work attire consisted of pants, a hair net, and sensible shoes. It did not matter if women wore makeup, as long as the proper work attire was worn at all times. She was provided with all of the tools necessary to complete her work. She was assigned to work on the wing section of the plane. Her job responsibilities involved drilling holes. She was not told where she would be assigned or what her job responsibilities would be until her first day of work. (20:51-23:10)... Her legs got tired on her first day of work because she had to stand all day drilling holes into large panels. Her partner was an Italian woman. There were about thirty people working as a crew in the wing section. The employees were supervised by a leadman and another supervisor came around inspected their work. End of tape. *** File: rrrmmcsweyn7.mp3 (0:00-1:26)... Her first thing she noticed when she entered the Lockheed plant was its size. It took her a while to get acclimated to the physical layout of the plant. There were several floors at the plant, each with different departments. The departments were not partitioned off. The only enclosed department was the tool shed and the office. She worked on the fourth floor in the wing section. (1:26-4:33)... There were more women employed at the plant than men. When she arrived at the plant, she went to the personnel office and was escorted to the department where she was assigned to work. The leadman showed her what she would be doing. She was assigned to work with another employee who helped her learn the job. She learned quickly and started working on the wing her first day. She did not feel tired or sore after her first day. (4:33-6:39)... Out of the twenty or thirty on her crew, there were four men. These men were responsible for handling some of the heavier tasks. McSweyn befriended three girls on her crew. They spent their lunch breaks together. (6:39-10:02)... There were a couple of Mexican women working in the same department as McSweyn; however, she does not recall seeing too many Black women. When she went on lunch breaks she noticed that there were Black women employed at the plant. Her job responsibilities did not change while she was at Lockheed. She complained about pain in her legs but, "you didn't change jobs just because you had a whim." The company was reluctant to transfer employees into other departments, especially if they excelled at their at their job. She sought medical attention for her leg difficulties. Lockheed required medical clearance before they agreed to release her from the plant. (10:02-13:30)... She reported to the plant at 8:00 a.m. every morning. Employees received two ten-minute breaks and a thirty minute lunch break throughout the day. The plant was equipped with a coffee room where employees congregated during their breaks. There was a lunch counter set up the parking lot where employees could buy lunch and socialize. She went to lunch with her partner, an Italian woman. McSweyn recalls that her partner's only motivation in life was earning enough money so that she could get a nose job. The women in her crew consisted single women and older women she assumed were married. (13:30-18:26)... Most of the women she worked with had loved ones or friends in the service. She corresponded with her friends fighting the war. She was usually exhausted after work so she learned how to write her letter on carbon paper and then sent copies to each boy. When her shift ended at Lockheed, she volunteered at the Citizens Defense Corps. The purpose of the group was to prepare for homeland defense. She learned how to operate the police switchboard and what types of air raid warnings to sound in case of an attack. She attended USO dances and served coffee and donuts at servicemen's clubs. (18:26-21:16)... Her mother did not discourage her from going to dances during the war. She was too wrapped up in worrying about her sons overseas. McSweyn's mother preferred that she work as a beauty operator and was happy when McSweyn finally quit Lockheed. When she worked overtime at Lockheed it was usually on Saturdays. However, employees were given the opportunity to work overtime during the week also. (21:16-23:02)... She did not think her work at Lockheed was boring. The plant was very noisy. Her department was lucky because they were not located near riveters. The sound level in her department did not inhibit employees from having a conversation. However, they usually did not talk when they worked unless they were awaiting a new section to be delivered to their department. (23:02-26:19)... McSweyn was hired at Lockheed as a driller making .60 cents an hour. Employees received periodic raises. She gave her mother some of her earnings and used some of her money to buy war bonds. (26:19-27:12)... Employees were required to join the union when they went to work at Lockheed. (27:12-29:28)... There was a company nurse at Lockheed who provided first aid and medical assistance to employees. When McSweyn requested a transfer to a different department she was interviewed by a woman in the personnel office. When she was involved with the Citizens Defense Corps, the girls entertained the servicemen and tried to make them feel at home. End of tape. *** File: rrrmmcsweyn8.mp3 (0:00-1:18)... Aside from her attending USO dances, McSweyn continued to attend social club affairs; however, these clubs began to disintegrate during the war because of the absence of male membership. (1:18-3:37)... During the war, she dated a few servicemen. Her activities involved dancing or other social activities like bowling. She discusses her relationship with a boy she met in a social club and corresponded with during his military duty. He mentioned her in a book he wrote about his life as a migrant worker in Los Angeles. (3:37-7:13)... The loss of the male population during the war impacted her social life. Many of her activities were curtailed during the war because she did not have a lot of spare time. She got around the city on public transportation or hitched a ride with her sister. Rose had a difficult time with fuel shortages and had to use ration coupons in order to get gasoline. Her family did not experience difficulties with food shortages and rationing. She discusses her brothers service during the war. Her mother had three stars in her window and it was always a big day when she received a letter from one of her sons. (7:13-11:35)... After drilling at Lockheed for a year, she started having problems with varicose veins. Since she was a hard worker, she was transferred to the tool shed. She did not request a specific job when she applied for a transfer. She did not want to work in a position that required that she stand. Each department was equipped with a tool shed. Although working in the tool shed was much easier than production work, it was hectic because employees came in groups with requests for tools. She was much more isolated from her co-workers, but continued to see her friends during lunch breaks. (11:35-17:14)... McSweyn did not encounter any resentment from the men working at Lockheed. A lot of people dated at Lockheed and there were several married couples working at the plant. She dated a male co-worker for awhile and he did not complain about her presence at the plant. She continued to correspond with her future husband who was stationed overseas. In every letter, he wrote of their impending marriage. She did promise to marry him when he went into the service. He knew that she was dating other men during the war and she assumed that he was doing the same. (17:14-21:00)... McSweyn discusses her husband's background. Before they married, he worked as an extra in the movies. When he went into the service, he was given a clerk assignment because of his typing skills. He was captured in Germany and held as a POW until he was liberated a month later. (21:00-25:48)... She knew that she was going to get married in the near future, but was not sure about what type of role she would play in that marriage. When her husband returned from the war, he was assigned MP duty in Santa Barbara. They were married at the Biltmore Hotel in Santa Barbara. She decided to leave defense work before the war ended and women flooded the job market. Her friend Molly referred her to a wholesale beauty supply company and she was hired. She discusses her experience applying for a work release from Lockheed. (25:48-29:01)... Defense work taught her how to use tools and improved her manual dexterity. Her sisters benefited from her war work because she was able to fix things around the house. She got to meet new people and enjoyed the entertainment provided during lunch breaks. However, she preferred to work in the beauty business. End of tape.
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