Recovering the past

Source: R. Salazar. Campuzano Family, Undated.

This week I received an amazing file from the National Archives, the Alien Case File for Maria Jesus Campuzano de Grijalva, oldest daughter of my 2nd-great-grandfather Vicente Campuzano. The photo above was shared to me back in 2015 by a granddaughter of Maria Jesus, and it shows Maria Jesus on the left, with likely Vicente's second wife Beatris Palacios, then Vicente. The young man to the right of him I think was my great-grandfather Plutarco Campuzano, followed by his sister Concha Campuzano on the end. The photo is undated, but given the age on Vicente's face, I think this is from 1920s, perhaps taken in Arizona or Sonora.

The A-file from the Archives includes two photos of Maria Jesus, one from 1951, and another from 1932. The 1932 photo looks a lot like her in the photo above.

Maria Jesus, A-file page dated 1932

The file includes a wealth of information about how Maria Jesus, as well as her father and siblings, came to the United States. I will be sharing some extracts from the file.

I am also preparing for another business trip, so the follow-up on this amazing story may need to wait a few days. But it's going to be worth it.