Passing down stories from generation to generation is the oldest form of historical recordkeeping. With today’s technology we are able to capture and share those stories is a digital format. Follow the links below to see and hear oral histories from Fort Worthians.
Civil Rights in Black and Brown: Oral Histories of the Multiracial Freedom Struggles in Texas from Texas Christian University.
Latino Americans – 500 Years of History from the Fort Worth Public Library.
Tejano Voices from University of Texas at Arlington.
Worth Heights Women
In an effort to document the experiences of Mexican and Mexican American women in the south side Fort Worth neighborhood known as Worth Heights, HOLA began interviewing women who lived in this barrio as early as the 1930s and 1940s and throughout the rest of the twentieth century. Known for the steel mills and Katy Lake (Seminary South shopping mall beginning in the 1960s, Town Center Mall in the 1990s, and now La Gran Plaza), Worth Heights is bordered by I-35 to the east, Hemphill to the west, Seminary to the south, and Berry to the north. Shaped by the Latinas/os who have both lived in this neighborhood for generations and those who have recently arrived, the story of the Worth Heights community has not been contextualized by historians nor has the city recognized the contributions of the numerous Latina/o business owners to overall economy of Fort Worth. We hope this ongoing project will shed light on the vibrant and historic Worth Heights barrio. If you would like access to full interviews for research, please contact us here.
Katherine Kuehling Castillo
In this clip from our interview on February 10, 2020, Mrs. Castillo tells the story of how her parents meet and the steps her mother’s family took before granting her mother permission to marry her father.
Click here to read about the circumstances surrounding her father’s tragic death.
HOLA Tarrant County 