The Migrant Experience in California 1930-1940

Why did people come to California after World War I ?

• Hard economic times—Great Depression • Farmers losing their farms • 30% unemployment rate • 7 year drought began - 1931 • Dust storms • Midwest became the Dust Bowl

What Was So Attractive About California?

• Mild climate–long growing season • Image of the “promised land” • US Highway 66-“Route 66” • Advertised for farm workers

Who were the Okies?

• Migrants from any state were called “Okies” • Just 20% were from Oklahoma • Most were from Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas and Missouri • Had shared heritage of Anglo Saxon roots, simple upbringing, and conservative values

Mexican Migrant Workers

• Had been in California before the Okies • Experienced discrimination – As non-Anglos – As migrant workers – As Spanish speaking immigrants • Important part of agricultural production in California

Universal Human Experiences

• Trauma of moving away from one’s roots • Tension among people of different backgrounds • Moving often to find new work

Migratory Labor Camps

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“The Migratory Labor Camps, set up under the Farm Security Administration in 1937, have won a real victory over the forces of stupidity and wrath that made the Valley a sink-hole of farm labor exploitation since the days of the first irrigating ditch.”

Life in Migrant Camps

• Federal camps helped with poor sanitation and unhealthy living conditions • Rekindled a sense of community • Camps were governed by migrants • Had recreational activities

A Song of Migrant Workers

• “Sunny Cal” by Jack Bryant, 1940 -- a folk song about the migrant experience.

Click on speaker symbol to hear the song.

Sources

• All photographs are from the American Memory Collection of the Library of Congress • http://www.memory.loc.gov

• The information is from the article,

The Migrant Experience

• http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/afctshtml/tsme.html