US History

The Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945)

Labor History

Latino Americans

Migration

This collection uses primary sources to explore the Bracero Program.

A photo of officials standing with a group of braceros by a Southern Pacific train in California, 1942.

After going through the processing center in Mexico, workers were transported by train or bus to processing centers in the United States and then to bracero camps. The group pictured in this photograph is among the first group of braceros hired in 1942 to help with the sugar beet harvest near Salinas, California.

A photo of braceros arriving in Salinas, California, in a Pacific Greyhound Line bus, 1942.

After going through the processing center in Mexico, workers were transported by train or bus to processing centers in the United States, and then to bracero camps. The group pictured in this photograph is among the first group of Braceros hired in 1942 to help with the sugar beet harvest near Salinas, California.

A photo of braceros sitting on the back of a flatbed truck holding hoes, 1942.

A photo of a farm owner supervising braceros as they harvest sugar beets and toss them in the back of the truck, 1942.

Description: The original description from photographer Hal Higgins reads: “President Robert Barr of the Central California Beet Growers' Assoc. And his crew of Mexicans recently imported into California to save the record crop. Mr. Barr likes the Mexican labor above all other for beet field work and says his crew had no trouble learning to top and load beets under his leadership, as they averaged 3 1/2 tons the first week and went up to 4 tons the second week.”

A photo of braceros eating in the labor camp dining hall, 1942.

A photo of a man walking among the labor camp buildings at Spreckels Sugar Company in Woodland, California, 1942.

A photo of a group of braceros entering a church with the priest at the door and officials supervising, 1942.

A photo of braceros receiving paychecks in Skagit Valley, Washington, 1943.

A photo of braceros before a return to Mexico, 1963.

The man standing in the middle (plaid shirt) has been a bracero since 1944. He is returning to Guadalajara. 

Government report responding to *Strangers in Our Fields*, a book critiquing conditions for laborers in the Bracero Program, 1956.

In 1956, labor organizer Ernesto Galarza published a book, *Strangers in Our Fields*, reporting on the conditions faced by braceros in the United States. The book begins with this statement from a worker: "In this camp, we have no names. We are called only by numbers." The book concludes that workers in the program were lied to, cheated and "shamefully neglected.” In this report, federal officials attempt to refute Galarza’s findings point by point. These officials are reporting from Region X of the Bureau of Secure Employment (part of the Department of Labor), which covers Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.

An excerpt from a 2011 oral history interview with a father who worked as a bracero in Arizona and his son (in Spanish).

An English translation of this clip from the original oral history in Spanish with Luis Marquez and Jose Marquez. Translator: Audrey Whitebloom.

JM: Jose Marquez (father)  
LM: Luis Marquez (son)

Interviewer: I understand that Mr. Jose also started working as a manual laborer.

JM: Yes.  

LM:  Dad, do you remember when you used to tell us that you used to work as a bracero and illegally? Do you remember telling us about it?  

JM: When I was illegal I was in Texas. I was in ranch that was called the 90, because it was very big...

LM: And what year was that? Do you remember?  

JM: No, I don't remember. 

LM: It was before we were born, remember?  

JM: Yes, all of you were born after I was already there.

LM: So it was around 1956 or 57 in those years when you were an illegal worker and after being an illegal worker you got a contract in a bracero program.  

JM: Yes, I got a contract to come to work in California.

LM: Do you remember what that job was? 

JM: They used to make a list then they would take you, not everyone, one here and there, to the center of contracts in  Guadalajara and they...

LM:  The commissario would make the list, he would look for the candidates, he would look for the people...

JM: Yes, but he wouldn't  include everyone...

LM:  No, not everyone, only certain people...

JM: Once they made the list they would take them to Guadalajara and they would do the contracts there.  

LM: How would they send you there when they contracted you...in cars, in airplanes, in donkeys...in trains…?

JM: In trains.

LM: Ah, in trains. So you went from Balded Sonora to the United States…

JM: Yes and from there they would give you the passports.  

LM: Who would decide where u were going to work?  Who would decide that…?

JM: In Parma and Sonora, a lot of them would go to different places...and some would be sent to Arizona and I imagine they wanted to go because it was very hot over here...

LM: So the bosses would arrive, looking for manual laborers, and braceros from Mexico would arrive.  So, would they say, I have some work Texas or I have work in California or I have work in Arizona... 

JM: It depended, some wanted twenty, thirty, forty, or fifty people.  

LM: So was it voluntary, and you could say, I want to go to California, or I want to go to Texas?

JM: Many wanted to go to Arizona because it is very hot there and that was what they were used to.

LM: What did you used to do in San Jose? 

JM: Picked cucumbers and zucchini.  

LM:  And how did they used to pay you, by hour or by contract? 

JM: Per hour.

LM: Do you remember how much they used to pay you?

JM: I used to get paid $1.25 an hour.

LM: And why did you decide to come here, because mom brought you here or what?

JM: Once the contract was over in Sonoma, then we came here.

A 2011 oral history interview with a man who grew up on a farm in Arizona recounting how hard the braceros worked in the fields.

A 1951 letter to a Dallas newspaper, detailing the author’s opposition to “wetback labor.”

A denied request for “300 Mexican nationals” to harvest pears, issued by the US Department of Labor, 1960.

The document discusses domestic farm workers on strike in California.

A transcription of a 1962 *Los Angeles Times* news story: “U.S. Charges Falsifying of Bracero Pay Books.”

Questions

1. Discuss how the reaction to the Bracero Program, as seen in the [letter to the Dallas newspaper](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/mexican-labor-and-world-war-ii-the-bracero-program/sources/75), the [denied request](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/mexican-labor-and-world-war-ii-the-bracero-program/sources/76), and the [transcribed Los Angeles Times story](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/mexican-labor-and-world-war-ii-the-bracero-program/sources/77), mirrors present-day labor debates. How does it relate to the current Mexican border crisis?

2. Look over the the [government report](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/mexican-labor-and-world-war-ii-the-bracero-program/sources/72), the [Marquez oral history](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/mexican-labor-and-world-war-ii-the-bracero-program/sources/73), the [Gradias oral history](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/mexican-labor-and-world-war-ii-the-bracero-program/sources/74), the [letter to the Dallas newspaper](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/mexican-labor-and-world-war-ii-the-bracero-program/sources/75), the [denied request](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/mexican-labor-and-world-war-ii-the-bracero-program/sources/76), and the [transcribed Los Angeles Times story](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/mexican-labor-and-world-war-ii-the-bracero-program/sources/77). What do these resources show are the major issues in debates about the Bracero Program? Who are some of the key players in these debates and what are their positions?

3. Look at the seven photographs by Floyd Halleck Haskins in this set. What do these photos say about work and living conditions for braceros? What is the photographer’s point of view on the program?

4. Use the items in this set as evidence to explain the kinds of discrimination braceros faced in the United States. How did this discrimination impact their everyday lives?


Activity

Pretend you are the bracero writing to his family back home. Using images in this set for details, how would you describe your work day? How would you describe labor issues in America? 

Teaching Guide: Exploring the Bracero Program

Resources

1. [Bracero History Archive](http://braceroarchive.org/about), The Center for History and New Media, George Mason University. 

2. [Braceros: History, Compensation](https://migration.ucdavis.edu/rmn/more.php?id=1112), University of California, Davis.

3. [The Bracero Program, 1942-1964](http://www.unco.edu/cohmlp/pdfs/bracero_program_powerpoint.pdf), University of Northern Colorado.

4. [The Bracero Program](http://www.c-span.org/video/?312267-4/bracero-program), C-SPAN.

5. [Uneasy Neighbors: A Brief History of Mexican-U.S. Migration](http://harvardmagazine.com/2007/05/uneasy-neighbors-a-brief-html), *Harvard Magazine*. 


Overview

Beginning in World War II, the Bracero Program brought Mexican laborers to the United States to remedy wartime production shortages. The program (which derived its name from the Spanish word for a manual laborer, “bracero”) continued until 1964, with braceros working mainly in agricultural areas in the Southwest and on the West Coast. Braceros worked long hours for low wages in difficult jobs that separated them from their families. In the United States, they also faced discrimination and became the subject of national labor debates. Get new insight into the Bracero Program and its workers through this collection of era photographs, documents, and oral history interviews. 

English

Mexican Labor and World War II: The Bracero Program

bracero-program_01_16c1c6626cddb88d4519951e6907696a.jpg

Courtesy of University of California Davis, Special Collections via California Digital Library.

Higgins, Floyd Halleck, “Two men with a group of Mexican workers standing near Southern Pacific train,” Digital Public Library of America, https://dp.la/item/7f814f33ad3f7fd3686a2251c123e008.

A photo of officials standing with a group of braceros by a Southern Pacific train in California, 1942.

Cite this item

Tips for Students

Item 1 of 15 in the Primary Source Set Mexican Labor and World War II: The Bracero Program