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Matt Garcia Papers
H.Mss.1096
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Title: Matt Garcia Papers
Dates: 1883-2016
and undated
Collection number: H.Mss.1096
Creator:
Garcia, Matthew
Extent:
16.4 linear
feet
(13 record boxes, 1 document box, 1 oversize document box, 1
oversize flat box, 1 shoe box)
Repository:
Claremont Colleges. Library. Special Collections, The Claremont
Colleges Library, Claremont, CA 91711.
Abstract: 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
.
Administrative Information
Collection open for research.
All requests for permission to reproduce or to publish must be submitted in writing to
Special Collections.
[Identification of item], Matt Garcia Papers (H.Mss.1096). Special Collections, The
Claremont Colleges Library, Claremont, California.
Provenance / Source of Acquisition
Gift of Matt Garcia, 2017.
No additions to the collection are anticipated.
This collection was processed to assure preservation of the older materials and to better
assist researchers looking for specific information. Materials were removed from their
original folders and rehoused in archival folders and boxes. Processing also included
placing photographs in mylar sleeves, removing harmful fasteners, eliminating duplicates,
and unfolding documents. Folder contents were kept in original order whenever possible,
but some materials were combined with like materials pertaining to similar subject matter.
This was done to facilitate access, and preserve space in the collection and the archives.
In some cases, Garcia wrote inventories on his folders; these pages have been extracted
and placed at the front of the new acid-free folders. Oversize items were separated and
rehoused in oversize folders.
Biography / Administrative History
Matthew J. (Matt) Garcia was born in Upland, California. A third-generation Californian,
Dr. Garcia is a historian of agriculture, immigration, labor, and ethnicity in
twentieth-century California. He received his B.A. in History from the University of
California at Berkeley (1991) and his Ph.D. in History from the Claremont Graduate School
(1997) with a concentration on Mexican American history, immigration history, history of
California, history of the American West, American popular culture, and labor history. His
research focuses mainly on Latin American, Latina/o, and Mexican American history and
culture, agriculture, and labor. These research interests also have a more direct and
personal connection, since much of Dr. Garcia's family history is rooted in the rural
farming areas of Southern California. His maternal grandfather worked for the Sunkist
Company as a data analyst while his father's parents worked in the California fields owned
by Sunkist. Dr. Garcia is currently the Ralph and Richard Lazarus Professor of History,
Latin American, Latino, and Caribbean Studies, and Human Relations at Dartmouth College,
as well as the chair of Latin American, Latino, and Caribbean Studies.
Dr. Garcia's books and articles have explored the origins of inequality in the U.S. food
labor system, with a specific interest in the struggles of immigrant farm laborers in
rural California. His first book,
A World of Its Own: Race, Labor,
and Citrus in the Making of Greater Los Angeles, 1900-1970
(2001), traced the
history of inter-ethnic cooperation among citrus laborers in the Pomona and San Gabriel
Valleys. In 2012, Dr. Garcia edited the volume
Mapping Latina/o
Studies for the Twenty-First Century
, a series of essays exploring the field of
Latina/o Studies. Dr. Garcia's second book,
From the Jaws of
Victory: The Triumph and Tragedy of Cesar Chavez and the Farm Worker Movement
(2012) is a comprehensive history of the rise and fall of the United Farm Workers, for
which he won the Taft Award for Best Book in Labor History. In 2017, he co-edited the
volume
Food Across Borders, an essay collection on
contemporary food cultures. Garcia's peer-reviewed articles have appeared in the
Journal of American History,
Boom: A
Journal of California
, and
Gastronomica: A Journal of
Food and Culture
.
In addition to his research and writing activities, Dr. Garcia is the former outreach
director and co-primary investigator for the Bracero Archive Project, which received a
National Endowment for the Humanities Grant in 2008. In addition, he was the recipient of
the Best Public History Award by the National Council for Public History in 2009-2010.
Dr. Garcia's first position was as an assistant professor of History and Latina/o Studies
at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. From 2000-2003, Dr. Garcia worked at the
University of Oregon as an Assistant Professor of Ethnic Studies and History. In 2001, he
published his first book:
A World of Its Own: Race, Labor, and
Citrus in the Making of Greater Los Angeles, 1900-1970
. This work has earned
many accolades including: Co-winner, best book (biannual award), Oral History Association,
2003; Honorable Mention, John Hope Franklin Prize for best book, American Studies
Association, 2003; Honorable Mention, Lora Romero Prize for best first book, American
Studies Association, 2003.
At Brown University, Dr. Garcia was an Associate Professor of American Civilization,
Ethnic Studies and History, from 2003-2011. While working at Brown University, Dr. Garcia
was also the Interim Director at the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America
from 2005-2006.
After leaving Brown, Dr. Garcia became a Professor at the School of Transborder Studies
and the School of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious Studies at Arizona State
University from 2011-2017. From 2012-2017, Dr. Garcia also served as the Director of the
School of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious Studies at Arizona State. Dr. Garcia's
second book,
From the Jaws of Victory: The Triumph and Tragedy of
Cesar Chavez and the Farm Worker Movement
, was published in 2012. That same year
Dr. Garcia co-edited
Mapping Latina/o Studies for the Twenty-First
Century
.
Dr. Garcia's most recent book,
Food Across Borders, was
published in 2017. His most current project is titled
Eli and the
Octopus: The Man Who Failed to Tame United Fruit Company
, and is under contract
with Harvard University Press. The book will be about the life and death of Eli Black, an
immigrant who wrestled with the United Fruit Company, and the event's relevance to modern
multinational corporations. Dr. Garcia was awarded a senior fellowship from the American
Council for Learned Societies (ACLS) to complete
Eli and the
Octopus
.
Further information can be found on Dr. Garcia's personal website:
http://www.mattgarcia.org/
Scope and Contents of the Collection
The Matt Garcia Papers contains research materials, oral histories, newspaper clippings,
photocopies, photos and written work pertaining to the preparation of two of Dr. Garcia's
books. The first book, titled
A World of Its Own: Race Labor, And
Citrus in the Making of Greater Los Angeles, 1900-1970
, surveys the social and
cultural underpinnings of Los Angeles through the lens of the citrus industry and its
workers. The second is titled
From the Jaws of Victory: The Triumph
and Tragedy of Cesar Chavez and the Farm Worker Movement
, and investigates the
United Farm Workers Union and their leader Cesar Chavez using oral histories and UFW primary
source materials. The collection covers the years 1883 to 2016. This collection also
contains written work from several of his students, pertaining to social and cultural
histories of Chicana/o individuals, as well as several papers written by Matt Garcia
himself.
The bulk of the collection consists of research materials, with two smaller series of
biographical and teaching materials. The biographical materials include Matt Garcia's
personal papers and correspondence, including employment information from the University of
Illinois, Urbana Champaign. These also include fellowship requests and letters, Claremont
Graduate School registration documents, school notes, and assignments dating to 1992. The
teaching materials include class syllabi, assignment descriptions, and written work turned
in by students of Matt Garcia who took part in the undergraduate courses he taught. These
include class papers on Latin and American history, as well as Chicana/o studies courses.
The research materials Dr. Garcia gathered and created in preparation for writing his books
are significant in terms of both their volume and content. Many of the notes and newspaper
clippings are associated with "Arbol Verde" and the history of the area, close to Claremont,
which became the subject of debate when Claremont McKenna College released plans to build
housing in this area of historically Latina/o influence. This led into a larger debate on
gentrification in the area. Along with these materials, a large part of Garcia's research
centers on several oral history interviews conducted by Dr. Garcia himself, as well as
transcribed copies of interviews performed by others. There are also many photocopies of
The California Citrograph, a citrus industry publication
which dates back to the early 20th century.
Regarding the materials relating to his second book, many of the materials cover the
history of the United Farm Workers Union (UFW), their conflict with the Teamsters Union, and
their numerous boycotts and labor activism. These materials come in the form of oral history
interviews, publications and articles, as well as correspondence from Cesar Chavez and other
UFW members. There is also a considerable portion of materials regarding Chicana/o education
rights, specifically bilingual education, in the Coachella Valley region. Of particular note
are profiles and oral history transcripts of two Chicana women who participated in student
walkouts and supported the rights of Chicana/o students in the Coachella Valley Unified
School District. There are also significant transcripts of interviews with various UFW
members, who describe their experience with the union. These accounts highlight both postive
and negative aspects of the union, the leadership, and management practices.
This collection is organized into the following series:
- Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1991-2014
- Series 2: Research Materials and Writings, 1883-2016 and undated
- Series 3: Teaching Materials, 1992-2014 and undated
The collection is arranged alphabetically by folder title.
The following monograph items can be found in Library Search using the Uniform Title, "Matt
Garcia Papers" or copying and pasting the following into the Search Box for Library Search:
ut:Matt Garcia Papers.
Garcia, Matt.
A world of its own: race, labor, and citrus in the
making of Greater Los Angeles, 1900-1970.
Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North
Carolina Press, [2001]. Call no: XC14 .G372 2001, copy 2.
Garcia, Matt.
From the jaws of victory: the triumph and tragedy of
Cesar Chavez and the farm worker movement.
Berkeley: University of California
Press, ©2012. Call no: XC14.G372 J3 2012, copy 2.
Garcia, Matthew and Valdivia, Angharad N.
Mapping Latina/o studies:
an interdisciplinary reader.
New York: Peter Lang, ©2012. Call no: XC14.G372 M37
2012.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
library’s online public access catalog.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Arbol Verde (Claremont, Calif.)
California, Southern
Chavez, Cesar, 1927-1933
Citrus fruit industry
Claremont (Calif.)
Claremont McKenna College
Education, Bilingual
Ku Klux Klan (1915- )
Labor--California--History
Labor leaders
Labor unions
Los Angeles (Calif.)--History
Mexican Americans
Migrant agricultural laborers
Padua Hills Theatre (Claremont, Calif.)
Pomona (Calif.)
Sheets, Millard, 1907-1989
Rainbow Gardens
United Farm Workers
Articles
Audio-visual materials
Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.)
Correspondence
Film negatives
Oral histories
Photographs
Reports
Research notes and studies