"Sí, se puede!": Chávez, Huerta, and the UFW

In September 1962, César Estrada Chávez, born near Yuma, Arizona in 1927, co-founded the United Farm Workers Association with Dolores Huerta (born in 1930) for the purpose of organizing farmers into a union to better position themselves to receive fair wages, fair contracts, and seek change in the working and living conditions of farm workers. On September 30, 1962, the first UFWA convention was held in Fresno, California, with other farm worker unions—of particular note, the Filipino American grape workers of the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC) in 1965—later merging their small associations with the UFWA.

Huerta and Chavez were influenced by the civil disobedience and non-violent campaigns of Mohandas Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Chávez engaged in prolonged hunger strikes—a water only, 25 day fast in 1968; a fast in 1972 that lasted 24 days; and his last in 1988 for 36 days—to not only turn a spotlight toward the movement, but to remind supporters and detractors that non-violence can work.

According to the United Farm Workers biography of Chavez, he said the following of his decision to engage in a hunger strike:

“A fast is first and foremost personal. It is a fast for the purification of my own body, mind, and soul. The fast is also a heartfelt prayer for purification and strengthening for all those who work beside me in the farm worker movement. The fast is also an act of penance for those in positions of moral authority and for all men and women activists who know what is right and just, who know that they could and should do more. The fast is finally a declaration of non-cooperation with supermarkets who promote and sell and profit from California table grapes. During the past few years I have been studying the plague of pesticides on our land and our food.”

This timeline of the United Farm Workers movement provides a comprehensive overview of major events between 1962-1993, including national developments, and the significance of decisions made by Governors of California and U.S. Presidents in relation to the UFW.

NCSS.D1.1.9-12. Explain how a question reflects an enduring issue in the field.

NCSS.D1.2.9-12. Explain points of agreement and disagreement experts have about interpretations and applications of disciplinary concepts and ideas associated with a compelling question.

NCSS.D2.His.1.9-12. Evaluate how historical events and developments were shaped by unique circumstances of time and place as well as broader historical contexts.

NCSS.D2.His.2.9-12. Analyze change and continuity in historical eras.

NCSS.D2.His.3.9-12. Use questions generated about individuals and groups to assess how the significance of their actions changes over time and is shaped by the historical context.

NCSS.D2.His.4.9-12. Analyze complex and interacting factors that influenced the perspectives of people during different historical eras.

NCSS.D2.His.5.9-12. Analyze how historical contexts shaped and continue to shape people’s perspectives.

NCSS.D2.His.15.9-12. Distinguish between long-term causes and triggering events in developing a historical argument.

NCSS.D2.His.16.9-12. Integrate evidence from multiple relevant historical sources and interpretations into a reasoned argument about the past.

Activity 1. The Bracero Program

A labor shortage during World War Two prompted the U.S. government to work with the government of Mexico to design a cross-border solution that came to be the Mexican Farm Labor Agreement of 1942. More commonly known as the Bracero Program, this pact was designed to provide migrant farm laborers from Mexico to the United States for a limited amount of time with guarantees of a living wage, housing, and legal protections against discrimination.    

General Provisions of the Bracero Agreement of August, 1942:

1. It is understood that Mexicans contracting to work in the United States shall not be engaged in any military service.

2. Mexicans entering the United States as result of this understanding shall not suffer discriminatory acts of any kind in accordance with the Executive Order No. 8802 issued at the White House June 25, 1941.

3. Mexicans entering the United States under this understanding shall enjoy the guarantees of transportation, living expenses and repatriation established in Article 29 of the Mexican Federal Labor Law.

The Digital Public Library of America's Mexican Labor and World War II: The Bracero Program provides a collection of photos, oral history interviews, and documents to illustrate what life was like for the Mexican men who came to the U.S. under the Bracero Program.

Using the video above, primary sources included in Mexican Labor and World War II: The Bracero Program and the Breaking Barriers: United Farm Workers collections, the Mexican Farm Labor Agreement of 1942, and your own independent research, respond to the following:

• Why was the Bracero Program created?
• What do the photographs included in the Mexican Labor and World War II: The Bracero Program and Breaking Barriers: United Farm Workers collections reveal about worker experiences during the 1940s-1960s?
• Listen to this 2011 interview with Louis Gradias who worked in Gadsden, Arizona under the Bracero Program. Summarize the timeline of how Mr. Gradias' family arrived in California and how he came to live in Arizona.
• According to Mr. Gradias, what were the working conditions like for his family and other Bracero farmers?
• How does the description by Mr. Gradias of his experiences compare to your interpretation of the letters and photographs?
• Why was the short-term Bracero Program extended into the 1960s?

Activity 2. César Chávez and the UFW

The Civil Rights Movement of the 20th century is most often associated with African Americans and the South, however, efforts to remove the exploitative working conditions endured by Latino immigrants and Chicano farm workers in California and the Southwest United States are part of this history as well. César Chávez's work as a labor organizer began in 1953 when he joined the Community Service Organization (CSO) and traveled throughout California to assist with the founding of local chapters. By the end of the decade he would become the CSO's national director and in 1962 left to form the United Farm Worker's Association along with Dolores Huerta.

Working with the Breaking Barriers: United Farm Workers collection, newspaper articles about the UFW published between 1965-1969, recordings of interviews conducted with Chávez, and independent research, construct a timeline of Chávez's work during the 1960s and 1970s that includes quotes, images, and other relevant information in response to the following topics:

• establishing the United Farm Workers (UFW)
• forms of resistance engaged by the UFW
• Delano Grape Strike
• Larry Itliong and Filipino Laborers (video)
• influence on farm worker organizations beyond California
• immigration
• reform legislation
• legacy of Chávez's leadership

During the debriefing discussion that includes analysis of the information gathered on the Chávez timelines, address the following questions:

• What did Chávez's efforts change with regard to labor and civil rights in the United States?
• How should the UFW be remembered within the context of labor rights in U.S. history?
• Did you uncover any differences in perspective between the recorded interviews with Chávez and other sources of information about his life?
• What did the partnership between Chicanos and Filipinos produce with regard to labor rights?
• Why should Chávez be included within discussions of other non-violent civil rights organizers such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Mohandas Gandhi?
• Why does Chávez remain important to contemporary debates regarding labor, immigration, and citizenship?

Activity 3. Dolores Huerta and Civil Rights

Prior to co-founding the United Farm Workers Association (UFWA) with César Chávez in 1962, Dolores Huerta was already involved in voter registration drives and pressing local legislative bodies to reform living conditions in the barrios. An adept organizer, she, like Chavez, believed that the hardships faced by farm workers were linked to the larger civil rights movements taking place across the United States. Honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012, Huerta's legacy has been commemorated in poems, artwork, films, books, and museum exhibits. 

Using the Breaking Barriers: United Farm Workers collection, the Dolores Huerta: Revolution in the Fields collection, the poem "Huelga" by Diana Garcia, Resolution 37 passed by the 110th Congress in January 2007, and independent research, construct a commemoration of Dolores Huerta that answers the essential question: Why should Dolores Huerta be remembered as a civil rights icon? Your commemoration can take on multiple forms (poster, collage, digital storyboard, etc.), but should address the following:

• establishing the United Farm Workers (UFW)
• forms of resistance engaged by the UFW
• Delano Grape Strike
• Larry Itliong and Filipino Laborers (video)
• influence on farm worker organizations beyond California
• women's rights
• reform legislation
• legacy of Huerta's leadership

During the debriefing discussion that includes analysis of the information gathered about the legacy of Dolores Huerta, address the following questions:

• What barriers did Dolores Huerta set out to remove?
• Why was Dolores Huerta successful in bringing attention to the UFW movement?
• To what extent did Huerta help the UFW achieve its goals?
• What does Huerta's civil rights activism during the 1980s and 1990s reveal about the issues and movement she sought to advance?
• How should Dolores Huerta be remembered among civil rights activists in U.S. history?

Based on your analysis of the United Farm Worker's Movement, the leadership of César Chávez, and the legacy of Dolores Huerta, engage in a comparison with records, narratives, and perspectives associated with the civil rights and labor movements led by and for African Americans during the 1950s through 1970s. Construct a graphic organizer in which you consider the key issues shared across both movements, as well as those that were unique to the respective groups and leaders. Discussions should include, but are not limited to considering: race, employment opportunities, the role of state and federal governments, citizenship, geography, successes and setbacks, leadership, and legacies of the respective movements. 

Resources to assist with this comparative analysis:

• Episode 5 of the PBS series Latino Americans: Pride and Prejudice
• The Smithsonian Channel's Freedom Rider's History
• The Texas Historical Commission's Civil Rights and Hispanics in Texas
• Backstory podcast The Fierce Urgency of Now: The 1963 March on Washington

In the NEH funded documentary Adios Amor:The Search for Maria Moreno, the discovery of lost photographs sparks the search for a hero that history forgot—Maria Moreno, a migrant mother driven to speak out by her twelve children’s hunger. Years before Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta launched the United Farm Workers, Maria picked up the only weapon she had—her voice—and became an outspoken leader in an era when women were relegated to the background. The first farm worker woman in America to be hired as a union organizer, Maria’s story was silenced and her legacy buried—until now.