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Mexican Hometown Association Oral Histories

Manuel Correa

This page is referenced by:

Manuel Correa Club Taji, Club Ciudad Hidalgo, Michoacán

Oral History Transcription

Oral History Audio

Name of Interviewer: Xóchitl Bada
Date of Interview: March 31, 2016
Location: Chicago, IL
Interview Language: Spanish

Manuel Correa was born in 1928 in Ciudad Hidalgo, Michoacán, Mexico. He only finished elementary school and dropped out of school to work in the fields harvesting and selling chili peppers at the farmer's market of his small town along with his mother. In his early youth, he moved to Salvatierra, Guanajuato and worked as factory operator. In 1948, Manuel came to the U.S. as an undocumented immigrant for the first time. He traveled with other family members to Reynosa and crossed the Rio Grande. Working as a farmer on a cotton farm on the US-Mexico border, Manuel went back to his hometown to take care of his sick son. Upon his return to the United States, Manuel became an experienced “bracero” working in several cotton farms located in Texas. After that, Manuel applied for a visa and came back to the U.S. in 1956. In this trip, he directly traveled from Ciudad Hidalgo to Chicago, Illinois. In Chicago, he worked in several restaurants as dishwasher, butcher, and line cook. While working in restaurants, he helped several fellow friends and family come to Chicago by recommending their services and work ethnic to his employers. In 1956, Manuel Correa married and had 10 children. In 1958, he cofounded the “Club Taji of Ciudad de Hidalgo” as a way to help back his community located in Ciudad Hidalgo, Michoacán. Manuel Correa retired in 1979 and continues as an active member of Club Taji, serving as an important advisor to the Board of Directors. Club Taji began as a soccer club in Chicago´s North Side and eventually evolved into a hometown association. This is one of the first Mexican clubs established by Mexican immigrants who came to Chicago in the Post-WWII period. Club Taji recently celebrated 60 years and it has funded numerous educational and infrastructure projects in Ciudad Hidalgo in its six decades of existence.