Dr. Laura Cummings Pachuco / Caló Oral History Project collection
The Dr. Laura Cummings Pachuco / Caló Oral History Project collection comprises audiocassette recordings featuring oral history interviews conducted by Dr. Laura Lee Cummings and two audiocassette tapes featuring a 1947 recording done by anthropologist George C. Barker of two men speaking pachuco or caló, a language form that is closely tied with the pachuco subculture.
Cummings recorded the oral histories in the 1980s-1990s, and interviewed subjects about pachuco culture and language forms in Tucson and the greater Southwest region. Many of the oral histories include comments and reactions of interviewees to the Barker tapes.
Most of the interview subjects are anonymous middle-aged Tucsonans who lived in neighborhoods like Barrio Anita, Barrio Viejo, Dunbar Spring, and Old Pascua in the 1930s-1990s. Others are from other parts of the greater Southwest, including California, Texas, Baja California, and Chihuahua. Some interviewees speak about their interactions with pachucos and about pachuco styles, traditions, and language. Cummings and the interviewees also speak about the evolution of pachuco and cholo culture.
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