A three-day workshop in April 2024 hosted by Southern Illinois University Carbondale. The workshop...
Cobden is a small town in Southern Illinois with a population of just over 1,000 as of 2022. But with a population of so few, Cobden boasts quite a bit of diversity, including a large percentage of Hispanics. Serving the Hispanic community in Cobden is Edith Tomas, the owner of La Mexicana, which is a local Mexican grocery store. Many of the people in the Hispanic community of Cobden come to La Mexicana so that they don’t have to travel to Anna, Illinois where the next nearest Mexican grocery store is. In many ways, La Mexicana exhibits the diversity of the city of Cobden.
The Tomas family are among many in this Hispanic community that immigrated from Mexico to the United States. As J. L. Hargis stated, “There was a woman who started a migrant program to work with Spanish-speaking kids because the numbers were starting to really fill up here in Cobden. And it was at a time that would have been close to fruit picking time… Her name was Mary Monavon.” Hargis is now a close friend of the Tomas family and said, “When those four came into the school district, none of the kids could speak any English.” At the time, Hargis taught Junior High through High School as well as Driver’s Education and Physical Education.
Cobden, the Appleknocker town, is especially known for its apples and peaches, and each year the city holds a Peach Festival. One of the reasons that many of the people in the Hispanic community came to Cobden was to find employment in the fruit-picking industry in the Cobden area. “They followed the crops primarily,” Hargis said. “In fact, on the outskirts of town […] there’s a migrant camp, and that’s where they went for just maybe a short, short time.”
Asunción Carmona holds her apron at the counter across from the store owner, Edith Tomas April 13, 2024 at La Mexicana in Cobden Illinois. Image by Enan Chediak. United States, 2024.But finding employment wasn’t the only reason that many immigrated to Cobden. La Mexicana’s owner Edith Tomas moved from Cherán, Mexico, which is about 200 miles west of Mexico City. She has five children Santiago, Esmerelda, Noemi, Goreti, and Ricardo. Santiago and Ricardo were born in the United States, while her three daughters were born in Mexico. One of Edith’s daughters Noemi Cruz said, “I came when I was like 7 or 8 years old.” Hargis, who has known the family since they moved from Mexico to Cobden, said, “Santiago was probably in 6th grade, but none of them could speak any English. They had to learn that. It took considerable time before you could communicate with the kids.” Over time, Hargis formed a connection with the family. “I used to come over early on and help them with their classes the first year they were here once they could understand enough English that I could talk to them […] I never did learn to speak Spanish.”
Now, Edith’s five children have gone their separate ways, some moving as far away as Mayfield, Kentucky. “Eventually, they all graduated from High School, obviously,” Hargis stated. “And Noemi went to school: she enrolled in [the] Shawnee College program […] And she was working with some type of a nursing program. And she has enough education to be easily employed if she wasn’t raising a family, but she’s doing full-time family.”
But despite that some have moved away, family is still very important to them. Edith Tomas said that she first came to the Cobden area because her aunt was here already, and their family has continued to be connected since. “Basically, all my family is here now,” Edith said. “There are no more relatives in Mexico.” It is this emphasis on family that led Edith and her children to move to Cobden and is also why they are still so connected so many years later.
La Mexicana has been open for more than 20 years. In an interview, Edith said, “This country gives a lot of opportunities.” She also said that she feels comfortable being part of this society, that she has met a lot of good people, and that she is happy to be here. One thing is certain, and that is that La Mexicana and the Tomas family’s spirit continues to uplift the Cobden community.
