The Day A Texas School Held A Funeral For The Spanish Language
Two women remember a day in the 1950s when their elementary school in Marfa,Texas, banned speaking Spanish on campus in a ceremony called the "burial of Mr. Spanish."
Maggie Marquez and Jessi Silva grew up in the desert town of Marfa, Texas, in the 1950s, when the schools were segregated. Latino children were sent to Blackwell Elementary School, and for many of them, Spanish was their first language.
Maggie, 73, and Jessi, 69, were students there, and at StoryCorps,
