The Dominguez Family: A Mexican-American Journey

Narrated by family member, Donna Morales, this is the touching and dramatic story of one Mexican-American family's struggle to find its part of the American dream. Ms. Morales explains, "My family left Mexico in 1909 just as the country began its slow descent into a bloody ten-year revolution. Coming to Kansas City in 1918, my family's services in the railroad and meat packing industries of Kansas City were very much desired by the Kansas business community. However, from a social standpoint, my family was not eagerly nor warmly welcomed to Kansas during the early decades of the twentieth century." "For the first decades of our stay in Kansas, we endured discrimination, humiliation, and segregation at the hands of our own countrymen. We could not eat at certain restaurants, could not attend certain church services, were not allowed in some movie theaters and could not send our children to certain schools. However, with great faith in God and in America, we endured and we triumphed." When the tyranny of Nazi Germany threatened the world, the Dominguez family stepped forward to make its contribution to America's war effort. While many family members worked in the defense industry, two Dominguez brothers went to war. Like other Mexican-American families, this family was prepared to make sacrifices for the land that they loved. Five weeks before the surrender of Nazi Germany, 18-year-old Louie Dominguez died while fighting on German soil against an enemy that was nearly defeated. At the moment that Louie gave his life for his country, his older brother and role model Erminio languished in a German POW camp 200 miles away in Bavaria. Through their sacrifices and efforts, the Dominguez family and other Mexican-American families of Kansas have become an integral part of Kansas City's diverse ethnic fabric. The story of the Dominguez family is the story of many Mexican-American families who came to America and triumphed over many obstacles to find their rightful place in American society.