The collection consists of research, writing, and teaching materials created by author, educator, and historian Matthew J. Garcia. The materials document Dr. Garcia's work on topics related to agriculture, labor, food, immigration, ethnicity, and popular culture in California. Primary subjects of interest include the citrus industry and Mexican-American laborers in Southern California, especially the Farm Labor movement under Cesar Chavez. The collection is comprised of research materials, oral histories, correspondence, photographs, academic writings, and conference presentations, as well as course materials from classes taught by Garcia at various universities. The research materials and writings in this collection were created in the process of writing two books, A World of Its Own: Race, Labor, and Citrus in the Making of Greater Los Angeles, 1900-1970 and From the Jaws of Victory: The Triumph and Tragedy of Cesar Chavez and the Farm Worker Movement .

16.4 linear feet (13 record boxes, 1 document box, 1 oversize document box, 1 oversize flat box, 1 shoe box)

All requests for permission to reproduce or to publish must be submitted in writing to Special Collections.

Collection open for research.