By Austin Roth, Dominick Francks, Davis Needham, Riley Stewart, Sadie

Beckenhauer.

History

• After World War I, the price of farm products dropped, making it necessary for farmers to sell more goods to earn the same amount of money. Their response to this was to hire “drifters” to come work for short or long periods of time on the farm.

History

• The migrant workers’ salvation was Roosevelt’s New Deal, which created jobs and made the communities where the work was taking place much better. The farmers filled the hole left by the workers with combines and tractors.

Quotes • George, on the worker's dream: "All kin's a vegetables in the garden, and

if we want a little whisky we can sell a few eggs or something, or some milk. We'd jus' live there. We'd belong there. There wouldn't be no more runnin' round the country and gettin' fed by a Jap cook. No, sir, we'd have our own place where we belonged and not sleep in no bunk house”

Quotes• "Whatever we ain't got, that's what you want. God a'mighty, if I was alone

I could live so easy. I could go get a job an' work, an no trouble. No mess at all, and when the end of the month come I could take my fifty bucks and go into town and get whatever I want."

Compare• Very poor wages for both groups in both time periods.• No healthcare or job security.• Mistreated and overworked by employers

ContrastMigrant Workers Now• Primarily Latino, mostly

illegal immigrants.• Working for family back

home.

Migrant Workers Then• All races, mostly

uneducated. • Alone in the world, working

to get a little piece of land and settle down.