HUMBOLDT — A little-known history about the Mexican families who worked for Monarch Cement came to light Thursday night at the opening of the program “Life Under the Shadow of a Smoke Stack” at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church.
Maria E. Flores, daughter of Theodor Perez, a Monarch employee from 1935 to 1960, said the program is to honor the Mexican families who labored for Monarch and to show their importance of the Mexican history of Kansas. The Mexican families lived along Cement Road in houses specially built for them by the cement company.
Dr. Virgil Dean, an editor with the Kansas State Historical Society, expressed his appreciation of Cruz’s efforts to document the history of those families who lived on Cement Road. Dean said that he knew nothing about this part of the Kansas Mexican History until he was contacted by Cruz. “I was eager to come and learn more,” Dean said.
Walter Wulf Jr., president of Monarch, told those families represented, “We are the benefactors of our relationship with your families.” Wulf told of his family’s history in the cement business. Walt Wulf Sr. and his wife Mae lived in Brownsville, Texas before coming to Humboldt in 1931. While in Texas, Wulf Sr. learned Spanish which was beneficial later when many of the employees at Monarch were Mexican.
Cruz told of how being the only Mexican girl in her high school class was intimidating.
“I would walk the halls and look of all those Mexican boys who had graduated before me,” Cruz said. Their efforts gave Cruz the courage to go on the graduate, she said.
“It makes a difference when there are pioneers ahead of you.”
Cruz said she is part of America’s great “melting pot.”
“I am an American of Mexican descent, a Kansan and a Christian,” she said.
In working on the Cement Road history project, Cruz said she was touched by the many photos she received from those who had served in the military.
“I realized I was being kept safe by my cousins and friends who were serving in Vietnam,” she said.
The houses on Cement Road decorated their windows with stars if they had family members serving in times of conflict, Cruz said.
“Families gained strength from each other,” Cruz said. “We had only radios and newspapers to get the news.” She told how news would spread through the community when someone received a letter from one of their military members because letters were rare.
“The older men worked hard in the cement plant, even some of the women worked in the bagging department and some went to work at the Parsons ordnance plant,” Cruz said. “Thoughts of their sons kept them going.”
Cruz told of the victory gardens that were planted. “We had fruit trees and pecan and walnut trees,” Cruz said. “Each family had a farm animal and everyone had lots of chickens. Many items were rationed. We had no health insurance.”
Forever etched in her memory is of the women gathering to join in prayer, she said.
Monarch’s Mexican legacy is recognized
