Estefana Maldonado Watts Letters

The Estefana Maldonado Watts Letters Collection (1964-1967) contains one box and .38 linear feet of letters sent from Maldonado to her son, Demetrio Ernesto Maldonado. The letters began in 1964 when Demetrio first went away to school. Demetrio’s exact location is unclear, although several letters reference that he spent time in Texas while away from home and at some point he transitioned into military service. While the letters are centered around her relationship with Demetrio, they give insight into the life of a Mexican American family in 1960s Watts. Estefana uses the letters almost as journal entries and writes about extended family and friends, neighborhood happenings, and immediate family updates. Estefana also consistently updates Demetrio on the neighborhood boys that joined the armed forces during early years of the Vietnam war, either by draft or voluntarily. A recurring topic of discussion is family marriages and new relationships among the younger generations. Estefana and Ernesto Maldonado owned several homes in the South Los Angeles area and rented to tenants in the homes that they did not live in. While they had this passive income, the letters consistently show that they were financially unstable. Part of the reason for their financial troubles was Estefana’s ill health, as she was consistently in need of rest, medication, or doctor visits. Also contributing to that instability was the fact that Ernesto and Nalo Maldonado both struggled to maintain a stable job. Four letters in the collection also reference the events of the 1965 Watts Riots as Maldonado expresses her immediate thoughts and reactions to the aftermath of the riots. The final letters in the collection show that Demetrio was still away from home but there is no indication of a possible return in the near future.