Interviewer Question Tags Used in Events

And if you could describe what your childhood was like?

Yeah so I'm interested in how you remember their normalcy. What seemed normal to you, of your childhood?

So I want to talk about the Safety Patrol and um, we'll make a reference of that. I want you to describe what your family was like, um in East Austin.

So in terms of, and this is something that we discussed off cameras. But just so that, so it's on the record, your mother passed away at a young age, so you were predominantly raised by your father, correct?

So Gerardo, Marcos and yourself, who is the eldest, who is the middle child, who is the-

And this is something you spoke a little bit about. What languages would you say you spoke at home?

And what about your neighborhood? Do you were? Was it a bilingual neighborhood? Would you say?

So um, I want you to guide me to your father's role and what he thought about y'all's education. What was, what do you think was his- I guess his- how does he feel about the role of education for you all, and your siblings, your two brothers, and how do you know about about that feeling?

So earlier in the in the interview, we're talking about how you would walk to school, and I want you to describe what that process was like. Did you go alone? Were other people with you? What was that journey from home to school like?

So in terms of Palm School, you say you don't, kind of-

In terms of the classroom experience, how do you remember Palm School and being in the classroom?

Do you remember the teacher's name?

Was this a common occurrence at Palm School or-

Did it happen to you more than once?

Do you know when Mr. Boyd came into the school?

In terms of, if you could describe, if you remember what a classroom in, you know, inside Palm School looked like, how would you describe it?

So you're saying that in one of the classrooms you could directly see the construction. That was of I-35. Did you- Did you ever feel like the construction was interrupting your education?

Were there any- and this is based on on people who have gone to schools in Texas, there's songs or maybe anthems or poems that they would teach the students. Do you remember of anything like that that was taught to you?

Did you do the pledge allegiance to to the US and Texas? Or was it only to the US?

We used to do the US and then the Texas one.

I don't remember it, but I know we did it in elementary. Now, you were telling me that one of the things that you remember is, you know, Christopher Columbus, yeah, and doing these things. Were there ever any teachings? Or, you know, did you ever learn about the Mexican American experience, or Mexican American Chicano history in the U.S. while being at Palm School?

I know you were you- you said that math, that you were good at math. Would you say that math was your favorite subject?

Were there any subjects or activities regarding learning that you think "these were my favorite memories of Palm School," something that sticks out, maybe a story-?

So in terms of- and you've spoken a little bit about teachers, like your sixth grade teacher that you had, you've spoken about Mr. Boyd, what do you think was the staff, the teachers expectations of you all as students while at Palm School?

I know you said you were a little bit disconnected with Spanish, but was Spanish spoken in school? Or were you allowed to speak Spanish?

I know you've also described, and and it's known, right that the Palm School was next or, or there was a Palm Park andn the pool, right there. Do you have any memories of that palm Park? I know you described that there was like a merry-go-round and some swings?

It's been also documented through oral histories and archival work that the- that that specific pool, I'm sorry, was segregated. Did you ever experience or witness any sort of you know you, if you were Mexican you couldn't come on this day, or did you have free range?

I know you were, you were talking as well about the Safety Patrol, and Anita mentioned yesterday that that was kind of like a club or a- something extracurricular that you could do. Could you describe, and you said you were picked to be safety patrol? Could you describe what that was like? What you remember about being Safety Patrol?

Did they give you any type of vest or, like?

No stop sign either?

Was that sort of something you volunteered for? You got voted for?

So would you, would you get pulled out of the classroom to go do that, or how would that-?

Were there any- just like, you know, when you think back of your time at Palm School, any memory that really brings you joy, or that brings you, you know, is like, "this is a wonderful memory that I'm always going to share, cherish from Palm School"?

We've spoken about a little bit about, you know, your experiences being paddled maybe once or twice. But do you recall any other bad experiences that you might have had at Palm School?

Jacks is the one where you have, like, a little ball, and then you grab?

So at Palm School, we're all three of you together at one point?

And at Palm School, either?

Were there any celebrations that Palm School would- would highlight or do? Maybe Mother's Day, Anita mentioned yesterday that they had Fiesta days. Do you remember any celebration like that at Palm School?

In terms of opportunities for families to be involved. Was your- was your father ever going to school, or did he ever attend any parent teacher conference or anything like that?

So if you would think of what role education has played in your life. How would you describe that?

I want to transition a little bit more to thinking about the Palm School within a larger, you know, Chicano, East Austin, Austin, Texas, you know, as Maggie was, was mentioning, how do you think the Palm School fit into the larger Mexican American community?

If you- and maybe this is not something that that you may be aware of, but do you know if maybe your father had a choice as to whether he wanted to send you to Palm School or not, or was that kind of just by design of where you lived in the neighborhood?

I'm interested also in like I like I said, I've been privileged to- to interview people that have family members that went to Palm School. So as being the eldest of two brothers, what does that mean to you? The fact that this was also a family- like a school where your family went to, how does that shape maybe your idea of family and your brothers sharing this history in Rainey Street, East Austin, and Palm School?

Yeah, there's, there's a lot of other things that I think today, now, students have to be hyper focused, hyper aware of because there has been so much work done on it, right? And, and I always, I'm like, it's a double-edged sword, because as much as you're growing conscious, you're also worried about so many things, yeah, and you may lose focus of education.

So looking back today, how do you think that the people feel the community feels about the history of Palm School?

So I know, when we were in the room, we were looking at sort of images, and, you know, we were discussing certain businesses and things like that that were that were around the neighborhood. Do you remember any of those, what they look like, maybe who the owners were, or what what these businesses and surrounding were?

Any any movies that you remember watching that stick out to you?

I know when we were when we were also in the room. You were describing that the windows in the top right maybe were of the library, right? Do you remember what the inside of the library looked like?

Do you remember if it was something that you enjoyed going to?

I want to move a little bit to kind of what came after Palm School. And I don't know if maybe you had gone to, I think it's UJH?

Is that where you went to middle school?

Could you describe what that was like, going from, from Palm School to then the middle school?

Do you remember why maybe the Air Force stuck out to you?

So that is kinda your your first introduction to anything Mexican history.

And when you said career day, that possibly that may have been an avenue as to how you were interested in in the Air Force. Did they have people come in and talk about it? Or were the, were the schools playing these movies that you were-

Did the demographics from Palm School, change when you went to to a junior high did, or was it still predominantly Mexican and Anglo?

So things kind of stayed the same in terms of-

And then after you go to junior high, what is the name of the school that then you went for high school to?

Do you remember any stories about Stephen Austin that stick out to you?

So you kind of, or are, you kind of heard stories based on the news, I'm assuming right of things that were happening elsewhere?

And this is around the late 1960s?

And then you enlist in the Air Force right after high school?

And you had said that you you had served, and then you had a break in between, right? And then you became part of the reserve?

Did anybody else in your family enlist?

Just wanted to be a pilot.

In looking back, what do you think are some of the accomplishments or highlights of your life that you're you're proud of today?

Are there things about your education or your life that that you would like to touch upon that I haven't yet asked you?

So I have a final question to ask you, and it is if you could describe who Frank De Leon has become. How would you describe your life story?

Well Commissioner De Leon, let's go ahead and begin. Tell me about your family. How did they end up in Austin? Because earlier, you told me about how your mother was born in Bastrop, and your father was born in- "Lytton Springs." Springs. How did they end up in Austin?

And when did they- when did they move to the Palm School neighborhood?

Can you remind me of the street on which the church was, where your mom, your mom said this?

What was the church called?

So growing up through all of these different moves, who did you consider part of your family unit, besides you and you and your parents?

Do you have any indication as to what- why she was in Pharr?

So tell me about growing up in the the Palm School neighborhood, and it just being your father and your brothers. Tell me about your brothers.

Tell me about that experience.

What was the racial makeup of Palm School?

Tell me about growing up in the Palm School neighborhood in- at the time. Before going to school, when it was still mixed with, with, with, with, you know, whites and Mexicanos. Like, what was that like? What was what? And then, and then, did you notice a change when, when the Anglos moved out? Like, what's the difference, the difference in your experience between those two moments?

Can you tell us who Jerry Jones?

So what was your let's, I want to kind of expand on this idea of community, so tell me a little bit about your home life. So it was your dad and your brothers, who, who was making your lunch? You said you took lunch the first, the first two years.

And what was he doing? Was his labor, his work?

Where does that come from?

I want to pause right there. Gustavo, are we picking up that sound? "Yeah just the more recent one, can you and it was when it's gonna be intermittent. So it's something we can can you explain again, why was it that we're looking at that bird, and why is it red and white? Why were you questioning it? And if you can just talk about that, just the original-" "I was questioned?" "You were why? What are the roots of why you were questioning? Why the bird is red?" What made you look at that as a kid and think, why is it red? What? What? What do you think was instilled in you that, that that made you think so critically as a kid?

Can you walk us through an example that you used your gift while at the Palm School? Do you remember a fight or an argument between people that you were able to quell?

Do you remember her name?

Let's, let's talk about the wider community of the Palm School. I'm really interested to hear about, what are some businesses or institutions? You know, a few of the places that we've heard other people talk about is the park, the Salvation Army Center. So I'm curious to hear what do you remember about, your neighborhood, your barrio, growing up in the Palm School?

Do you know when it closed?

Tell me about your earliest memories of the Salvation Army Center or the Palm Park, or both?

Do you remember any other team names?

You think we'll find them in the census under those names?

Do you remember any of their actual names of the nicknames that you mentioned?

Were a lot of these people who you played with that Salvation Army? Did they also go to Palm?

Growing up around Palm. What? So you've mentioned swimming, basketball, what other kind of activities happened outside of the school? What? What do you remember?

Did you and your brothers?

What about Salvation Army?

How old were you?

Tell me about the event. Why did, Why were you so excited? Or what, like, what happened?

Were your parents coming or was your dad coming with you?

So who were you?

Where would you? Where would you get the newspapers to sell?

Did you feel safe growing up in the Palm neighborhood?

Can you tell us about that?

What was the name of the junior high school?

What was the experience of you getting jumped?

What group would you walk home with? Usually? Who was-

So growing up, what how important was the role of education? Did your father talk to you about how important education was? Were you being talked to at the Salvation Army? What How did before?

Tell us about that?

How did it feel to be held back?

How do you feel? Like you do you feel like it was necessary for you to be held back?

Do you remember your first day at the Palm School? Yeah, tell me about it.

Did you know how to read English before going to the first grade?

You spoke English outside of outside of school? You in Spanish-

Tell me about, you know, what kind of clothes do you remember wearing? What kind of food do you remember eating at the Palm School? I'm curious about like, who was Marcos De Leon attending Palm School?

I think it's, it's, it's, um, it's really interesting, because, you know, at different points you've talked about the legacy of the Palm School and the children that have come through it, and but in this moment, I'm hearing the legacy of of language, the legacy of how, even in the first grade, right, you scribbling the book of English, you then struggled with the English language for the better part of your life. And I want to take, I want to go back to this moment where you discover the 'R" what? Why do you think it was there? At what point was it there? And do you know, why was it hidden?

Do you know the professor's name?

Yeah, tell me about curriculum at the Palm School. Do you think that, why was it that you were, you were having a hard time learning English or picking up English. And what was maybe your favorite subject in school?

What about history? Do you remember?

Tell me about the celebrations you mentioned the May pole, Fourth of July in-

About what- what happened at Palm Park?

Do you remember the kinds of foods or music or games or activities that would happen at the park during those Mexican celebrations?

And they will be there, everything free? "It was gratis." Who was making the food?

Tell me about some of the women that you remember from your community, whether they be native, there was, there-

Do you know her first name?

Were a lot of the kids from from the Barrio. Did they come from two parent households?

You were okay?

Did you go to school?

There was all these rumors about-

I'm interested to hear, you talked a little bit about, you know, Miss Galindo and the women in the community. I'm interested to hear about any- you mentioned some teachers, but any teachers or staff members from the palm school that you really remember?

How did that make you feel?

How did that feel?

Yeah. What was that experience like?

When did he find out?

How old were you?

The patches, or the experience?

What were, what do you feel like the expectations of the teachers at Palm were for the students?

Do you think that the Anglo teachers and Chicano teachers or Mexicanas? Do you think they had, they had different expectations of you all, or do you think all the teachers had the same ones-

Do you know anybody, any students who got kicked out?

Do you know the reasonings?

You mentioned a couple times Commissioner De Leon, I want to take you back just a little when you said you missed 54 days of school.

What were you doing?

And your brothers would still go to school?

What do you remember about the Palm School building? How do you what do you remember about the bricks, the walls?

At home or in schools?

When was the school building built? Do you know?

At what age?

Whoose car was it?

Do you know that you've now told now, now there are two cars in the lake that belong to your family?

How long did it take you to walk from home to the Palm School?

Did you know your neighbors? Did you know the people?

Was there a school bell at the Palm School?

I'm wondering if you would. I'm wondering if because, because you're talking about how you live so close, you could throw a rock. I'm wondering if you would be, if you would have been able to hear the school school bell from-

What is the most joyous memory you have of the Palm School where you experience joy?

That's something you learned from the neighborhood?

Would you talk to the janitors often?

Did Mr. Martinez live in the Palm neighborhood?

What about the lunch ladies?

What was the food like?

Commissioner De Leon, you've told me multiple points where you... you said, you know, you realized you were poor, right through the patches, through maybe this incident with Christmas the toys, I'm wondering, what were instances in which you realized you were brown, or that you realized you were Mexican or Chicano?

And I find that really interesting, that you know part of what you got in trouble for in the third grade was this, this joke about beans? Was this joke about frijoles, and blood cells? And I'm curious, was the teacher upset that you made the joke, or that you were speaking Spanish?

You mentioned earlier about square dancing, line dancing, what was PE like? What was playing at the Palm School? What kind of activities and games would you all play?

And then you get in trouble at church.

Do you remember? What was it like leaving the Palm School? Was there a graduation? You know, you repeated the sixth grade? What was your last year at the Palm School like?

And did you feel ready to go to junior high?

And once you left Palm what was, you know, you mentioned, education has always been very important to you. How did Palm in your experience at the Palm school influence the rest of your educational life?

I'm interested to hear about your- You know, after Palm School, after you know, UJH, after high school. I'm really interested to hear about your political participation, whether it be in like, the early aughts of the Chicano movement, or you know, your your your run for commissioner and and really trying to understand how those moments in your life were were impacted by that your early your early career, your early childhood, you know, especially the Palm School kind of-

What do you remember about that day?

Want to come back to this, but I want to, I want to, I feel like I missed a big part, which was you meeting Hortensia. How did you all meet? What is what would you

Where was this?

So would you say that your political consciousness and your relationship with Hortensia kind of happened at the same time?

But in the larger Austin community, or even specifically within the palm neighborhood, what kinds of activity, political activity, were there around, around the 70s, Chicano movement at this-

When did you decide that "to run?" for public office, yeah. When did you and how did you make that-

Can you say something about the boat races?

What are they? What were they?

And the demonstration was against the KKK? "Againt the KKK." Do you remember what year that was?

For the camera. Can you, can you say?

Talk to me about running for Commissioner when you when you were elected

I know him.

No, I just I, I saw him last year I was in San Francisco, and I saw him last year.

What are, what are some lessons that you took from the Palm School, from early in your life from around the neighborhood that you carried with you into your adulthood, into this political organizing, into meeting other people, into being a mediator, like, how do you make sense of who you've become? Thinking back to your childhood, the-

Tell us about sunshine camp.

Whose Ernestine?

Miss Campos, do you know her first name?

Any chance you know her husband's name?

Okay. Thinking back, what are some of your accomplishments and highlights that you're especially proud of?

There's tissue on the side if you need.

I'm sorry, Martin Luther King-

Can you say that- it's- what was the name of the organization?

So you were saying, you were talking about how this person asked for your CV, and you were saying it would be a book because you've been doing this a long time.

And this was while you were a teacher yourself, or a-

What does the Palm School symbolize to you?