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Mexican Nationals Arriving at the Hood River Train Station, ca. 1943.
Hood River was one of twenty-eight Oregon counties that utilized Mexican labor. [P20:790]
Mexican nationals constituted almost all of the international migrant workers utilized in Oregon from 1942 through 1947. Beginning in 1942, the Bracero Program (the name given to the wartime labor agreement between the U.S. and Mexico) placed over 15,000 Mexican men on Oregon farms. They were used as "shock troops" -- moved from place to place throughout the state where critical labor shortages occurred. Historian Erasmo Gamboa wrote that the Mexican workers were a "highly regimented and effective labor force . . . they were on call on a daily basis, including Sundays, and could be transferred at a moment's notice to meet labor shortages elsewhere."
While the Extension Service was responsible for determining the need for and the training and placement of Mexican workers, the War Food Administration had responsibility for their recruitment, transportation to Oregon, housing, and supervision. Camps for Mexican workers were operated by the Labor Branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Many were "mobile" -- easily moved from place to place.
Despite their effectiveness as laborers, Mexican workers sometimes encountered harsh living conditions, a lack of interpreters at the camps, and wage disputes. County Mexican Sponsoring Committees remedied some of the problems. Mexican workers were bumped from their jobs by workers released from wartime industries and returning servicemen. By 1947, the Emergency Farm Labor Service was placing emphasis on decreasing the amount of Mexican labor needed.
Select the image you would like to view. . . .
Mexican
Workers Picking Cucumbers Near Scappoose, 1945.
[P20:518]
Mexican
Workers Celebrating the Anniversary of Mexican Independence at a
Mobile Labor Camp in Columbia County, September 16, 1945. J. R.
Beck, state supervisor of the Emergency Farm Labor Service, urged
cooperation on the part of farmers in allowing the workers to
celebrate the holiday. These three photographs were taken by
commercial photographer Maurice Hodge of Portland. [#972 and
P20:519]
Workers
Loading Up at One of the Mexican Farm Labor Camps in Umatilla County
During the Cannery Pea Harvest, 1943. Farmers trucked the workers
to their farms early in the morning and returned them to the camp at
the end of the day's work. Photograph by Pendleton photographer Bus
Howdyshell. [#972]
Mexican
Workers in an Apple Orchard, Hood River County, ca. 1944. Mrs.
Merril Hart, left, a retired farmer's wife, volunteered to direct
crews because of her ability to speak Spanish. A lack of interpreters
was a problem encountered by Mexican workers. [P120:2787]
Mexican
Worker Receiving Treatment at the Trailer Dispensary, Athena Farm
Labor Camp, Umatilla County, 1947. Dorothy Burleson, left, of
Walla Walla, Washington, worked as a nurse at both the Athena and
Milton-Freewater farm labor camps in Umatilla County.
[P120:2806]
Jamaican
Farm Laborer Working on a Pea Viner, Umatilla County, 1945. Most
of the state's 40,000 tons of cannery peas produced in 1945 were
grown in Umatilla County. Fifty Jamaican workers helped with the
county's pea harvest that year. [P40]
Mexican
Workers Manually Harvesting Potatoes, Klamath County, 1943. Each
worker would stay on his row until finished, carrying a supply of
empty sacks fastened to a picking belt. The 1943 potato harvest in
Klamath County was the largest to that time. [P120:2813]
A
400-Acre Potato Field North of Klamath Falls, October 1944.
Mexican workers were often employed to harvest large plantings such
as this one on the Jerry Short farm near Upper Klamath Lake.
[P120:2350]
Camp
"Mail Wall," Hood River County, ca. 1945. Mexican workers
returning to the Odell camp after the day's work went to the "mail
wall" where letters from home were posted. [P120:2778]
Mexican
Worker Playing Guitar, Hood River County, ca. 1945. The farm
labor camps for Mexican nationals had few organized recreational
activities. Laborers provided most of their own recreation and
entertainment. [P120:2781]
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![Mexican Workers Picking Cucumbers Near Scappoose, 1945. [P20:518]](osufield85.gif){kind=link}
