In this Book
- All They Will Call You
- Book
- 2017
- Published by: University of Arizona Press
- Series: Camino del Sol
All They Will Call You is the harrowing account of “the worst airplane disaster in California’s history,” which claimed the lives of thirty-two passengers, including twenty-eight Mexican citizens—farmworkers who were being deported by the U.S. government. Outraged that media reports omitted only the names of the Mexican passengers, American folk icon Woody Guthrie penned a poem that went on to become one of the most important protest songs of the twentieth century, “Plane Wreck at Los Gatos (Deportee).” It was an attempt to restore the dignity of the anonymous lives whose unidentified remains were buried in an unmarked mass grave in California’s Central Valley. For nearly seven decades, the song’s message would be carried on by the greatest artists of our time, including Pete Seeger, Dolly Parton, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, and Joan Baez, yet the question posed in Guthrie’s lyrics, “Who are these friends all scattered like dry leaves?” would remain unanswered—until now.
Combining years of painstaking investigative research and masterful storytelling, award-winning author Tim Z. Hernandez weaves a captivating narrative from testimony, historical records, and eyewitness accounts, reconstructing the incident and the lives behind the legendary song. This singularly original account pushes narrative boundaries, while challenging perceptions of what it means to be an immigrant in America, but more importantly, it renders intimate portraits of the individual souls who, despite social status, race, or nationality, shared a common fate one frigid morning in January 1948.
Table of Contents
- Author’s Note
- pp. xiii-xiv
- The Story Keepers
- pp. xv-xviii
- The Witnessing
- Wednesday, January 28, 1948
- pp. 5-16
- Reconstructing Stories (La Huesera)
- pp. 17-19
- Los Gatos Canyon
- pp. 20-22
- The Stories
- Luis Miranda Cuevas
- Casimira Navarro López
- pp. 27-32
- Los Enganchados
- pp. 33-37
- The Courtship of Luis and Casimira
- pp. 38-42
- Guadalupe Ramírez Lara and Ramón Paredes González
- Jaime and Guillermo Ramírez
- pp. 45-51
- El País de las Siete Luminarias
- pp. 52-54
- Ramón and Elisa
- pp. 55-60
- The Photograph
- pp. 66-69
- Dear Elisa
- pp. 70-72
- Guadalupe’s Chronology
- pp. 73-78
- José Sánchez Valdivia
- Celio Sánchez Valdivia
- pp. 81-83
- El Bambino Calls His Shot
- pp. 84-87
- The Mexican League
- pp. 88-92
- Frank and Bobbie Atkinson
- Mary Lou and Helen Atkinson
- pp. 95-97
- An American Dreamer
- pp. 98-102
- The Assimilation of Elizabeth Liebersbach
- pp. 103-108
- Frankie Gets His Chance
- pp. 109-110
- Flight Training
- pp. 111-114
- Frankie Goes to War
- pp. 115-118
- Dear Bobbie
- pp. 119-122
- They're Flyin' 'Em Back
- Casimira Recalls the Last Conversation
- pp. 125-126
- January 28, 1948
- pp. 127-128
- El Centro Deportation Center
- pp. 131-132
- Un Nuevo Amanecer
- pp. 133-135
- José Sánchez Valdivia Gets Caught
- pp. 136-139
- Prepare the Cabin
- pp. 140-142
- Perhaps Synchronicity
- pp. 143-146
- The Takeoff
- pp. 147-152
- A Genealogical Breakdown of the Chaffin Name
- pp. 153-154
- Cruising Altitude
- pp. 155-156
- Dry Leaves
- pp. 169-173
- Funeral Services for the Crew
- pp. 174-176
- Funeral Services for the Passengers
- pp. 177-182
- Jaime Ramírez
- pp. 187-190
- The Power of a Song (One More Name)
- Pete Seeger
- pp. 193-195
- Rough Rock, Arizona, Navajo Nation
- pp. 196-198
- The First Recording
- pp. 199-202
- Field Notes (2012–2015)
- pp. 203-214
- Photographs
- pp. 215-216
- Acknowledgments
- pp. 217-222
- Photo Credits
- p. 223
- About the Author
- p. 224
Additional Information
Copyright
2017