Sutliff (Judith) Collection, 1962-1982

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Summary

Title:
Judith Sutliff collection on the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) and the United Farm Workers (UFW)
Dates:
1962-1982
Creators:
Sutliff, Judith
Abstract:
The Judith Sutliff collection consists of personal papers donated by Sutliff, gathered while working as a volunteer with the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), and the United Farm Workers (UFW) during the years 1962-1982. The collection includes correspondence, newspaper clippings, pamphlets, fliers, fact sheets, press releases, photographs, and a scrapbook.
Extent:
1.25 cubic ft. (2 boxes)
Language:
Languages represented in the collection: English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Judith Sutliff Collection on the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) and the United Farm Workers (UFW), larc.ms.0016, Labor Archives and Research Center, San Francisco State University.

Background

Scope and content:

The Judith Sutliff collection consists of personal papers donated by Sutliff, gathered while working as a volunteer with the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), and the United Farm Workers (UFW) during the years 1962-1982. The collection includes correspondence, newspaper clippings, pamphlets, fliers, fact sheets, press releases, photographs, and a scrapbook.

At the time of Sutliff’s main involvement in the UFW, the union was attempting to force growers who would not sign a union contract into negotiating with strike and boycott actions. The strike on grape growers began in 1965 and lasted for five years. The UFW boycott of table grapes and lettuce took on a national scale and resulted in union victory. Major issues included: the UFW’s exclusion from the National Labor Relations Board because the language of the National Labor Recovery Act excluded farm workers from being considered industrial trade unions, police violence against strikers (especially the Texas Rangers), the use of illegal aliens as strikebreakers and the refusal of the Immigration and Naturalization Service to enforce immigration laws against illegal strikebreakers, the poor living and labor conditions of farm workers, the effects of pesticides on the health of farm workers, and the poor sanitary conditions that the farm workers were subject to in the fields.

Biographical / historical:

Judith Sutliff worked with the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), which merged with the Agricultural Workers of California (AWOC) in 1965 to form the United Farm Workers (UFW). Sutliff was a full time volunteer in the NFWA and UFW from 1965 to 1968. She was involved with organizing and fund-raising activities in Lamont, California; Denver; Chicago; and New York. She was an office organizer in Bakersfield, California, and was involved in setting up a hiring hall in Lamont, California. She also served on the UFW grape boycott committee in Chicago in 1968.

Processing information:

Processed by Labor Archives and Research Center staff.

Physical location:
Collection is available onsite.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid prepared by Labor Archives and Research Center Staff.
Date Prepared:
2012
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2012-11-14T10:30-0800

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

Copyright has not been assigned to the Labor Archives and Research Center. All requests for permission to publish or quote from materials must be submitted in writing to the Director of the Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Labor Archives and Research Center as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Judith Sutliff Collection on the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) and the United Farm Workers (UFW), larc.ms.0016, Labor Archives and Research Center, San Francisco State University.

Location of this collection:
J. Paul Leonard Library, Room 460
1630 Holloway Ave
San Francisco, CA 94132-1722, US
Contact:
(415) 405-5549
specialcollections@sfsu.edu
Website