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by Roberta Wood, People’s World
Where is Anita Torrez? growled the sheriff’s deputy at the young pregnant woman sitting at a table stuffing envelopes inside the union hall’s doorway.
I really have no idea, answered Anita Torrez with a good show of calm. The deputy had come on the sheriff’s orders to round up those on a wanted list of union wives. The frustrated deputy finally went on his way and the women laughed heartily. But it didn’t take away the fear.
More than 60 years later, Torrez is still iron-willed but soft-spoken, so she is reluctant to talk about herself and didn’t tell that story when she spoke on Mar. 15 at the University of Western New Mexico on a panel titled From Women’s Auxiliary to Women of Steel. But she did eagerly share it with family and comrades over a plate of carne asada, beans, rice, and plate-sized flour tortillas. The meal preceded the panel and was prepared by brothers from a steelworker local in nearby Tucson using a portable grill outside the same local hall where Torrez outwitted the sheriff’s deputy.
The confrontation took place in 1951 during a miners strike here. The strike was marked by government and company intimidation and violence and a new role for women. The story of the courage of the women led to the making of a unique movie, Salt of the Earth whose 60th anniversary was commemorated last weekend … more
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