Southside Neighborhood: 100 Years of Recipes and Stories
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2012 City of Chandler Centennial Southside Neighborhood: 100 Years of Recipes and Stories 1 Copyright ©2012 by City of Chandler Chandler, Arizona All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or part in any form. The publishers grant permission for individuals to reproduce the contents of this book for educational purposes and classroom use. Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the authors and the publisher have used their best efforts in preparing this publication, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of its contents and specifically disclaim any intent to defame or slight any people, places or organizations. Images are courtesy of the Chandler Museum, and individual contributors. For photo credit information, visit archive.chandlermuseum.org. Printed in the United States of America. Pictured on cover, clockwise: Delfina Centeno-Vega; Emma, Willie and Gladys Arbuckle; N.J. Harris; Noel and Dida Waterfield; son of Ramon and Modesta Muñoz Southside Neighborhood: 100 Years of Recipes and Stories Project Coordinator and Lead Writer: Melanie Hartmann Project Director: Jean Reynolds, Centennial Coordinator Contributing Writers: Dr. Santos Vega, Adiba Rehman Ilustrations: Barbara Peacock, Chandler Historical Society Board Editing, Design, Community Outreach: Jody Crago, Mari Dresner, Cristabel Dykstra, Kim Kaan, Megan Keough, Judy Ramos, Rick Senffner, Dr. Santos Vega Advisory Committee: Maudean Arbuckle, Willie Arbuckle, Cecilia Boggs, Philip Duenas, Cynthia Hardy, Erma Hemphill, Chuck Nickell, Former Mayor Coy Payne, Jenny Vidal Salzman, and LaVon Woods. In Partnership With Arizona Humanities Council Chandler Historical Society Community Documentation Program Chandler Human Relations Commission I Contents Foreword .........................................................V Acknowledgments ..........................................VII Introduction .................................................VIII Chapter One, 1910-1939 Aguilar ........................................................9 Arbuckle ..................................................11 Benites ......................................................15 Centeno-Vega ............................................17 Crespin .....................................................18 Duenas ......................................................19 Harris ........................................................22 Jackson (Earnest) ......................................24 Jones .........................................................27 Mitchell .....................................................28 Navarrete ..................................................29 Rodarte .....................................................31 Rodriguez ..................................................34 Rosales ......................................................36 Soto ..........................................................37 Turner .......................................................38 Vidal (Miguel Sr.) ......................................40 Woods (Billy) ............................................42 II Chapter Two, 1940-1979 Andrews ....................................................52 Barnes .......................................................54 Black .........................................................55 Folley ........................................................56 Gonzalez ...................................................61 Jackson (Obadiah) ....................................64 Kemp-Woods ............................................66 Lara-Overholser ........................................69 Morales .....................................................71 Nickell ......................................................73 Payne ........................................................76 Rojas .........................................................80 Vidal (Miguel Jr.) .......................................82 Waterfield .................................................86 Woods (Willie) ..........................................88 Chapter Three, 1980-present Blue...........................................................95 Dery-Chaffin .............................................98 Johnson .....................................................99 Salvation Army ........................................100 Bibliography ..............................................104 Index ..........................................................107 III My Mom’s Recipe Seated in Her Favorite Chair Surrounded by her beautiful flowers garden Growing everywhere The fence, under the tree, and side of house. Mom’s folded arms, hands. Her heart filled Together with despair Four Sons in U.S. service. Two teenagers at home Couldn’t spare. Two daughters raising families, One in Nursing College. Mom worked cleaning other folks houses, washing, hanging clothes, ironing Scrubbing floors, shining silverware. Then her own chores of work Mom’s health unknown. Made her way to church often Next door. Praise and worship. She adored Sunday school, prayer B.Y.P.U. Night service too. In the back yard Dad was busy, planting. Watering, Cutting weeds building chicken pen, feeding chicken, and gathering eggs. He had grapes, oranges. Cantaloupes and watermelons. Mom’s cooking pots were filled with fresh vegetables Beans, beets, cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, string beans, sweet corn, green onions, Garlic, red pepper, and tomatoes. Her pots were steaming hot with good eating food out of Dad’s garden How Mom did it she threw in a pinch of this and a hand full of that Mixed with a skillet cornbread, bisques, and cakes. Raisin cobbler, peach cobbler, sweet potato pies, soft teacakes and baked sweet potatoes. An enjoyable meal made from scratch, Mixed with sweet Kool-Aid, and cold Iced tea. Never a meal without dessert. -by Ruth Payne Franklin, 2012 IV Foreword Over the past hundred years, those who came to Chandler have been building a neighborhood, a community, a city. All who have come, no matter how brief the stay, have contributed. This cookbook is a tribute to their accomplishment. It is important to note no matter what their ethnic bearing all have participated. The dream of the founder of Chandler, Dr. A. J. Chandler, became reality as vibrant people, by whatever means, came and melted into the mix. Some walking, some on horseback, stagecoach, railroad and automobile. Some came by chance, others by choice. Opportunities did abound. Dr. Chandler’s dream of an oasis in an arid land took shape from the first stake driven into the ground. People bought the idea and streetscapes appeared, houses were built, commercial entities became visible. Dr. Chandler found himself in the land development business. He did not have second thoughts on this new venture. He met it head on. What a jewel we have today because of this man’s perseverance. Chandler continues to evolve into the city envisioned by the pioneering spirit of Dr. A. J. Chandler. This cookbook contains a collection of food recipes that were developed by residents throughout Chandler’s history. It will acquaint contemporary Chandler citizens, and others, with meals prepared by their predecessors. Citizens of Chandler have had a varied history of development. There are those who are living today who can attest to the fact that Chandler is unique. One of the ways we can verify the uniqueness is through the foods that were consumed. We collected information for this book by visiting families of one of Chandler’s oldest neighborhoods. In so doing, we were reacquainted with families and also made new acquaintances. This experience in itself was most rewarding. We sometimes were privileged to sample food prepared by the families. The experience brought a reality to us that was beyond comparison. This action emphasized the part individuals played in family life on a daily basis over a course of years—to be exact—a century. This collection of stories and food can certainly be appreciated by the reader and heighten the interest he or she will find in the unique recipes. V One can imagine the excitement and joy experienced by the originators. This book is worth reading if one wants to become knowledgeable about Chandler and its development. It is rich in cultural and culinary values. The people and their foods make the reading of this book a very “tasteful” experience. The reader will be encouraged to experiment in the preparation of the foods presented here. Coy C. Payne Former Mayor, 1990-1994 City of Chandler VI Acknowledgements Our primary thanks goes to the families of Southside who shared many memories and recipes with us. The stories you told offer a testimony to the deep and diverse history we have in Chandler, and the pride we have in our community. We couldn’t have done this project without the guidance and participation of our Advisory Committee, composed mainly of former residents of the neighborhood. They helped us tell the story, publicize the project, gather up family stories, and even walked the neighborhood to encourage all residents to participate. We also appreciate the work of the project staff team, and Nate Meyers, Chandler Museum Curator of Collections; Earnest Robinson, Chandler Unified School District, who provided us with research materials and photos; and Gordon Benson, who transcribed the oral history interviews. Special thanks, of course, goes to the Arizona Humanities Council (AHC) as a major financial partner, as well as the Chandler Historical Society