Our Stories
When we first arrived, the police escorted us inside the school, as students and their parents chanted, “Go Home.” We were taken into a special class. I would ask, “What are we doing in a class where we don’t do anything?” A week or so went by and we were moved into regular classrooms. Our family though found comfort at my grandpa’s Azteca Dining Room in Old Town. Grandpa Pedro Castro was born in Tepin, Nayarit. At 14 years of age he left Mexico, came to San Diego, and joined the Merchants Marines at 17. After the service, he sold tamales in the streets of Old Town. With his savings he bought his own restaurant in Old Town. I set my own path at 17, serving as a nun with Mother Teresa for more than 15 years in India, helping the very poor. And I believe my upbringing taught me resilience and compassionate to better serve others less fortunate than myself.
Keep the Faith By Sister Margaret Castro
Old Town was a happy place to grow up. Our neighbors were Mexicans, Chinese, and Blacks. My parents, James and Lydia Anna Castro, bought our home in the 1930s. When we were older, my brother Richard and I learned from my father that we lived in a segregated neighborhood.
Sister Margaret Castro
So, segregation was part of our lives. For example, our father loved to take us to the annual rodeo in Lakeside and we were only allowed to sit in a certain separate area. When I was about 10, I asked my dad, “How come we always have to sit in this area where the hot sun is always in our eyes?” He told me to be quiet and “don’t say anything.”
Later he told me it was “because the white people sit on that side and we sit on the other side.”
In 1951, I was bused from Old Town to Dana Middle School in Point Loma, along with 40 of my schoolmates who were Chinese, Blacks and Hispanics.
John and Lydia Castro, wedding day Old Town – 1934 (Photo courtesy Castro family archives)
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San Diego Latino Legacy – Timeline • Milestones • Stories
Chapter 2 – Rebuilding Lives, Against All Odds
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