Basquez was raised in the Panhandle and joined the Marines as a young man. Upon returning, the settled in Amarillo and eventually obtained a job at Pantex. At Pantex, he became invovled with Union organizating and evetnually became an organizer lobbying in Washington DC. From there, he began joining other ogranizations such as LULAC to raise scolarship money as well as to promote voter regestration. He ran for State Representative in Amarillo three times.

Alice E. Valdez was born in El Paso, and grew up in a middle class, Anglo and Mexican American community. She discusses her father's WWII experience to detail. Ms. Valdez was involved in the arts from an early age through church groups and in school activities. She attended the University of Texas at El Paso where she was part of the band and graduated with a degree in music. She recalled the 1966 Texas Western College (name prior to UTEP) NCAA Basketball Championship during her college experience. Upon graduation, Ms. Valdez moved with her husband to Atlanta for his military service. She moved to Houston in 1971. Due to her arts background, she became involved in creating arts programs for children and subsequently founded the Multicultural Education Counseling through the Arts Center, (MECA).

Alphonso Vaughn was born and raised in Amarillo, Texas. He lived through the integration of local schools as a high school student. From Amarillo, he entered the military and then attending the University of Oklahoma and the University of Texas. Upon his return to Amarillo, Vaughn helped start the city’s Juneteenth Celebration along with various civil rights and cultural organizations. He served five, two year terms as president of Amarillo’s NAACP. Since then, he has served as a Potter County Commissioner.

Interview with Amancio Chapa, former mayor of La Joya, Texas. In his interview he discusses his childhood and education in Corpus Christi, the Chicano movement, the Raza Unida Party and politics in South Texas.

Mr. Hernandez was raised in San Antonio, spending most of his formative years in the east side. While young, he became involved in local politics, working for several high profile campaigns, including State Senator Joe Bernal. He studied political science in Trinity University; at a very young age, he was offered the opportunity to work as the first Research Director for SVREP. He collected data and worked with MALDEF and SVREP attorneys to combat voting discrimination in Texas. In 1980, he ran Ted Kennedy's presidential campaign in the southwest. After the death of Willie Velasquez, he took the reins of SVREP. He returned to partisan politics later on, working with the Democratic Party. In addition to his account of his work in San Antonio politics and SVREP, Mr. Hernandez talks about the Mexican American and the broader "Latino/a" vote and the role of these constituencies in national electoral politics.

Interview with Andrew Melontree, a retired lawyer from Marlin, Texas. Melontree discusses his upbringing, education, experiences with discrimination and Jim Crow, his military service in the Air Force in the Korean War, his work as a laboratory technician, and his civil rights activism in Tyler.

Maria Anita Carmona Harrison was born and raised in Lubbock, Texas. She grew up in the city’s Guadalupe neighborhood, and she attended an all “Mexican” school before entering integrated schools in Lubbock. After graduating from Lubbock High School, Carmona Harrison earned a degree in elementary education from Texas Tech University —becoming the first Chicana educated entirely in Lubbock public schools to graduate from the university. She taught in several Lubbock schools.

Discussed the history of LGBT activism in the Golden Triangle, her memories of Klan activity in Port Arthur, and the continuing struggles of the gay community.

Antonio Jimenez was born in Mexico and moved to the U.S. during the 1980s. He worked at Cactus Feeders then Swift, a meat packing plant in Cactus, Texas. While at Swift, Jimenez felt that the United Food & Commercial Workers was not representing the meat packing plant’s workers well. Thus, he and others, inspired by Trini Gamez and Coco Medina, launched a local union that eventually initiated a strike that brought better conditions. He eventually left Swift and the independent local union when he felt his family was threatened by United Food & Commercial Workers operatives. He was sued by the United Food & Commercial Workers, but the suit was thrown out. Jimenez began a successful automotive body shop.

Ms. Ellis works for the hospital system in Lufkin and San Augustine. While attending SFA, she became involved in local politicss after noticing other active Democrats. She is the current chair of the Democratic Party in Nacogdoches County. She describes, in her interview, the current political climate in Nacogdoches, the people running for office, and their political platform.

Arnold Gonzales is an educator, former state legislator, assistant state land commissioner, Corpus Christi city councilman, and Navy veteran. He graduated from Ray High School and earned a degree in art from Texas A&M Kingsville and taught art in middle school. He won a Mott Fellowship and earned a Masters' and PhD from the University of Michigan. In his interview, he talked quite a bit about his history as a politician in Corpus Christi.

Arturo Eureste was born in Waelder, TX in 1954. He comes from a family that has been politically active as his father was involved in groups like PASSO and LULAC while his brother was a member of more radical movements such as MAYO. He discusses how his family involvement encouraged him to become active in efforts like the UFW Boycott, and through MAYO and LRUP in Houston. Mr. Eureste also shares his work with the Association for the Advancement of Mexican Americans (AMMA) and his current involvement in the community.

Mr. Montemayor was adopted by the Montemayor family in Laredo; his family was heavily involved in community affairs and Mexican American activism. His adoptive mother, Alicia Dickerson Montemayor, was elected vice president general of LULAC. After attending college in St. Edward's University in Austin, Mr. Montemayor worked as a teacher in Del Rio, where he became involved in Chicano activism. He was a central player in the events that led to the march in Del Rio, and later taught at walkout schools in Uvalde and other communities in the RGV. He was one of the founders of Colegio Jacinto Treviño (eventually becoming involved in Juarez Lincoln University). He eventually settled in San Antonio, where he became a full time staff member at IDRA. Throughout the interview, Mr. Montemayor talks about the pedagogical foundations for his work in Chicano-oriented courses, entrepreneurship, and some of the rifts that caused certain Chicano/a initiatives to split (e.g. Colegio Jacinto Treviño).

Interview with Becky Moeller, from Corpus Christi, Texas. In her interview, Moeller gives an overview of the labor movement & her prominent role in it. She covers her early life, working and becoming an union activist, labor unions and segregation, women's rights and gender equality, and the local political environment of Corpus Christi.

Mr. Figueroa recounted his role as a Robstown school board member during 1969 walkouts.

Interview with Bennie Sherman from Fort Worth, Texas. In the interview, Sherman discusses his early life, living under Jim Crow segregation, education in Fort Worth schools, and the Civil Rights Movement in Fort Worth.

Ms. Benham was born and raised in Lufkin, Texas. She went to segregated schools in Lufkin before participating in integration during the 1969-1970 school year. She graduated high school and went to college at the University of North Texas. She then became a flight attendant and worked in retail. She returned to Lufkin and worked with her mother, Bettie Kennedy, in the community. In the interview, Ms. Benham describes segregation in Lufkin, experiences with discrimination, problems during integration, discrimination she experienced at UNT, her work as a flight attendant, her time spent in retail, and the work of both her and her mother in the community.

Interview with Betty Joyce Bivens, a retired educator from Fort Worth, Texas. In her interview, she describes her childhood experiences, growing up during the Jim Crow period, her education, her work at General Dynamics and in the public school system, community engagement, church leadership, and voter registration,

Ms. Hatcher discussed migration from other states, the racism encountered in the 1970-80s, and her role as leader in the minority business community.

Billie Caviel was raised in East Texas, attending all African American Schools. She attended university and pharmacy school at Texas Southern University in Houston. Once graduating, Caviel and her husband, who was also a pharmacist, moved to Lubbock, Texas to work for a Jewish pharmacist because no one else would give them jobs in the state because they were African American. Caviel and her husband later founded their own pharmacy, which they kept open for forty-nine years. Caviel also served as a Lubbock ISD school board member for a number of years during the early 1990s.

Bobby Caldwell was born in Dallas in 1934. He grew up in different areas of Dallas, and faced barriers with discrimination and health issues as he had polio at age 3. He moved to Houston to attend Texas Southern University, and in 1957, he earned his law degree. He began practicing law in the 1960s, and quickly became involved in defending student activists, beginning with SNCC. Mr. Caldwell also became involved in pressing HISD to include African American studies in their curriculum, a movement led by the NAACP. In the late 1960s and into the 1970s, he began defending more militant activists including the members of the Peoples Party II, the TSU Five, and other student movements across the country. In 2014, Caldwell received a Lifetime Award from the Black Panthers for his commitment to defend Houston's African American community.

Mr. Galvan shares his personal history as a musician and store owner in Corpus Christi.

Hollis discussed the history of labor unions in the Golden Triangle, the challenges of growing up working-class, and the ongoing problems facing organized labor.

Mr. Pollard was born and raised in Central Heights, Texas. A relatively young man, he had an easy transition coming out as a gay man. In his parts of the interview, he describes the, discrimination he heard about, what made his time easier in comparison to others, and the changes he has witnessed in the area. Mr. Pierce was born and raised in Wells, Texas. He came out to his family when he was sixteen in the 1980s. He then began a career as a hairdresser in Tyler prior to moving to Alabama and then back to the Nacogdoches area. Mr. Pierce, while he did not experience overt discrimination himself, described the treatment of people he knew in the area. Mr. McClain was raised in Houston, Texas. He served in the military prior to moving to be near family in Nacogdoches in the 1960s, where he worked at a radio station. Mr. McClain, a white, straight man, described his experiences witnessing racism and discrimination against gay men.