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The Migrant Experience

Following World War I, a recession led to a drop in the market price of farm crops. This caused Great Plains

farmers to increase their productivity by using machines and cultivating more land on their farm. Thisincrease in farming activity reuired an increase in spending on machines and employees that causedmany farmers to become !nancially overe"tended. The stock market crash in #$%$ only served to worsenthis already unstable economic situation. &any independent farmers lost their farms when banks came tocollect on their notes, while tenant farmers 'who worked on farms in e"change for rent or pay( were turnedout when economic pressure was applied on large landholders. The attempts of these displacedagricultural workers to !nd other work were met with frustration due to a )* percent unemployment rate.

+t the same time, the increase in farming activity placedgreater strain on the land. +s the natural grasslands of thesouthern Great Plains were replaced with cultivated !elds, therich soil lost its ability to retain moisture and nutrients andbegan to erode. oil conservation practices were not widelyemployed by farmers during this era, so when a seven-yeardrought began in #$)#, followed by the coming of dust stormsin #$)%, many of the farms literally dried up and blew awaycreating what became known as the /ust 0owl. /riven by theGreat /epression, drought, and dust storms, thousands ofarmers packed up their families and made the di1cult 2ourneyto 3alifornia where they hoped to !nd work.

Why did so many of therefugees pin their hopes for abetter life on 3alifornia4 5nereason was that the state6s

mild climate allowed for a long growing season and a diversity of cropswith staggered planting and harvesting cycles. For people whose lives

had revolved around farming, this seemed like an ideal place to look forwork. Popular songs and stories, circulating in oral tradition for decades,e"aggerated these attributes, depicting 3alifornia as an authenticpromised land. In addition, 7yers advertising a need for farm workers inthe outhwest were distributed in areas hard hit by unemployment.Finally, the country6s ma2or east-west thoroughfare, 8.. 9ighway :: --also known as ;oute ::, The &other ;oad, The &ain treet of+merica, and Will ;ogers 9ighway -- encouraged the westward 7ightof the migrants. + trip of such length was not undertaken lightly in thispre-interstate era, and 9ighway :: provided a direct route from the /ust0owl region to an area 2ust south of the 3entral

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toward other ethnic=cultural groups, with whom they had had little contact prior to their arrival in3alifornia. The e"perience of migrant workers illustrates certain universals of human e"perience> thetrauma of dislocation from one6s roots and homeplace? the persistence of a community6s shared culture?and the solidarity within and friction among folk groups.

In addition, there were many &e"ican migrants living in the @l ;io Farm ecurity +dministration 'F+camp, which illustrates that &e"ican immigrants have long been an integral part of agricultural productionin the 8nited tates and were not newcomers on the scene even in #$A*. In fact, when the /ust 0owl

families arrived in 3alifornia looking for work, the ma2ority of migrant farm laborers were either Batino or+sian, particularly of &e"ican and Filipino descent. The living and working conditions of agriculturamigrant laborers have changed little in the intervening half century.

3alifornia was emphatically not the promised land of themigrants6 dreams. +lthoughthe weather wascomparatively balmy andfarmers6 !elds werebountiful with produce, 3alifornians also felt the eCects ofthe /epression. Bocal and state infrastructures were

already overburdened, and the steady stream of newlyarriving migrants was more than the system could bear+fter struggling to make it to 3alifornia, many foundthemselves turned away at its borders. Those who did crossover into 3alifornia found that the available labor pool wasvastly disproportionate to the number of 2ob openings thatcould be !lled. &igrants who found employment soonlearned that this oversupply of workers caused a signi!canreduction in the going pay rate. @ven with an entire familyworking, migrants could not support themselves on theselow wages. &any set up camps along irrigation ditches inthe farmers6 !elds. These ditchbank camps fostered poor

sanitary conditions and created a public health problem.

+rrival in 3alifornia did not put an end to the migrants6 travels. Their liveswere characteriDed by transience. In an attempt to maintain a steadyincome, workers had to follow the harvest around the state. Whenpotatoes were ready to be picked, the migrants needed to be where thepotatoes were. The same principle applied to harvesting cotton, lemonsoranges, peas, and other crops. For this reason, migrant populations weremost dense in agricultural centers.

The +rvin &igratory Babor 3amp was the !rst federally operated campopened by the F+ in #$)E. The camps were intended to resolve poorsanitation and public health problems, as well as to lessen the burdenplaced on state and local infrastructures. The F+ camps also furnishedthe migrants with a safe space in which to retire from the discriminationthat plagued them and in which to practice their culture and rekindle asense of community. +lthough each camp had a small staC ofadministrators, much of the responsibility for daily operations andgovernance was assigned to the campers themselves. 3ivil activitieswere carried out through camp councils and camp courts.

% & %

amily !alking '( )iles to $anta e*

Children of )e+ican migrant workers at$A Cam l "io California -./-

)en in recreation hallTulare $A Cam California -./(*

)igrant amily 0i1ing in a Tent and 0ooking for !ork in the 2eaields of California During the Great De#ression*

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When they were not working or looking for work, otending to the civil and domestic operations of thecamp, the migrants found time to engage in recreationaactivities. inging and making music took place both inprivate living uarters and in public spaces. The musicperformed by the migrants came from a number odiCerent sources. The ma2ority of pieces belong to the+nglo-3eltic ballad tradition. ongs such as 0arbara

+llen, The 0rown Girl, ine Bittle /evils, Father;umble, Bloyd 0ateman, Pretty &olly , and Bittle&ohee all re7ect this tradition. Gospel and populamusic are other sources from which migrants took theirinspiration. The minstrel stage, Tin Pan +lley, earlycountry, and cowboy music were all popular musicsources that fed the performers6 repertoires. The worksof the 3arter Family, immy ;odgers, and Gene +utrywere particular favorites of the migrants. +lthough althe music in this collection gives us a sense of theinformants6 cultural milieu, those pieces that documentthe migrant e"perience are especially poignant. ongs

like ack 0ryant6s unny 3al and &ary ullivan6s ballads + Traveler6s Bine and unny 3alifornia al

speak of hardship, disappointment, and a deeply cherished wish to return home.

In addition to songs and instrumental music, the migrantsen2oyed dancing and play-party activities 'singing gamesaccompanied by dance-like movements(. Included in this onlinepresentation are suare dance calls, such as oldier6s oy andally Goodin, and play-party rhymes like kip to &y Bou and5ld oe 3lark. ewsletters produced by camp residentsprovided additional details about camp social life andrecreational activities.

+s World War II wore on, thestate of the economy, both in 3alifornia and across the nation, improveddramatically as the defense industry geared up to meet the needs of thewar eCort. &any of the migrants went oC to !ght in the war. Those whowere left behind took advantage of the 2ob opportunities that had becomeavailable in West 3oast shipyards and defense plants. +s a result of thismore stable lifestyle, numerous /ust 0owl refugees put down new roots in

3alifornia soil, where their descendants reside to this day.

Text adapted from:

Fanslow, Robin A. The Migrant Experience. American Folklife Center. Library of Congerss. 6 Apr !!". #eb. $ Feb. %&.

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Two Children at Rehabilitation

Clinic in Arkansas.

!ill Neal #laying fiddle at Ar1in Cam#3entura, California, -./(

$aturday Night Dance at $A Tulare )igrant Cam#3isalia, California, -./(

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