Farm worker movement collection, 1968-1998

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Summary

Abstract:
Collection of materials related to the activism work of United Farm Workers.
Extent:
2.72 Linear Feet (1 document box, 1 flat box, 1 slide binder box)
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

[Identification of Item], Farm worker movement collection, CEMA 96. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection contains issues of UFW's El Macriado, correspondence and print media related to Cesar Chavez, and slides and other ephemera related to the farm worker movement - including labor strikes, boycotts, and performances. Also included are some materials related directly to the Chicano movement in the Santa Barbara area.

Biographical / historical:

The Farm Workers' Movement was established to protect farm workers' right to organize, and has helped to secure better pay and working conditions on farms across the United States. The movement aims to organize nonviolent labor strikes, marches, and demonstrations to increase both local and national advocacy.

Earlier organizing groups - such as the National Farm Labor Union, led by organizer Ernesto Galarza; the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC), led by Larry Itliong; and the Agricultural Workers Association (AWA), founded by Dolores Huerta - were active with varying levels of participation, cross-collaboration, and public recognition.

Taking organizing techniques they learned from their time working with the Community Service Organization, Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta formally founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) in 1962. Later, after combining forces with AWOC over a boycott of Delano grown grapes, the United Farm Workers (UFW) was officially chartered and recognized by the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) in August 1966.

The UFW is America's first and largest enduring farm workers' union. The UFW continues its activism in major agricultural sectors throughout the United States, but particularly in California. UFW contract agreements protect thousands of vegetable, berry, winery, tomato, and dairy workers in California, Oregon, and Washington state. The union continues proactively championing legislative and regulatory reforms for farm workers covering issues such as overtime, heat safety, other worker protections, and pesticides.

Acquisition information:
Original provenance unknown. Addition purchased, 2021.
Processing information:

Processed by Salvador Güereña, 2015. Additions processed by Rebecca Vasquez, 2025.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

Property rights to the collection and physical objects belong to the Regents of the University of California acting through the Department of Special Research Collections at the UCSB Library. All applicable literary rights, including copyright to the collection and physical objects, are protected under Chapter 17 of the U.S. Copyright Code and are retained by the creator and the copyright owner, heir(s), or assigns.

All requests to reproduce, quote from, or otherwise reuse collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Department of Special Research Collections at UCSB at special@library.ucsb.edu. Consent is given on behalf of the Regents of the University of California acting through the Department of Special Research Collections at UCSB as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner, heir(s), or assigns. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or their assigns for permission to publish where the UC Regents do not hold the copyright.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of Item], Farm worker movement collection, CEMA 96. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.

Location of this collection:
UC Santa Barbara Library
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9010, US
Contact:
(805) 893-3062
special@library.ucsb.edu
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