Availability
Restrictions
Preferred Citation
Arrangement
Historical Note
Content Description
General
Title: Cathy Murphy United Farm Worker (UFW) photographs
Date (inclusive): 1975-2013
Date (bulk): 1975-1979
Creator:
Murphy, Cathy
Physical Description:
4.07 Cubic Feet
(5 boxes)
Collection number: larc.pho.0073
Accession number: 2018/003
Repository:
Labor Archives and Research Center
J. Paul Leonard Library, Room 460
San Francisco State University
1630 Holloway Ave
San Francisco, CA 94132-1722
(415) 405-5571
larc@sfsu.edu
Abstract: This collection consists of photographs taken by Cathy Murphy of farm workers in California (and a few in Arizona), and Cesar
Chavez and the United Farm Workers (UFW) movement from 1975 through 1979, including a few images of labor activists Fred Ross,
Sr. and Dolores Huerta. Murphy documented the plight of workers in the field, Chavez's fight against child labor, and the
1975 Thousand Mile March from the California/Mexico border to Sacramento and finally back to UFW headquarters in Keene, called
"La Paz." The collection contains original photographs and posters and other reproductions of Murphy's UFW work. It also
includes a few items from the 2013 San Francisco State University exhibition, Marching Through History with Cesar Chavez and
the Farm Workers: A Photo Documentary by Cathy Murphy, in which many of these photos were displayed.
Material Specific Details: Photographs are black and white, except for eight that are color. Many of the photos are mounted.
Physical Location: Collection available on site.
Languages: Languages represented in the collection: English.
Availability
Collection is open for research.
Restrictions
Copyright has not been assigned to the Labor Archives and Research Center. Photographs are for research purposes only. All
requests for permission to publish or quote from other material 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], Cathy Murphy United Farm Worker (UFW) photographs, larc.pho.0073, Labor Archives and Research Center,
San Francisco State University.
Arrangement
Collection was arranged as received.
Historical Note
In 1975, labor leader Cesar Chavez met and recruited photographer Cathy Murphy. Chavez knew that photos would persuade state
legislators in Sacramento that child labor was a reality in California. On her first outing, Murphy photographed a young
girl named Lupita working in her socks in an onion field in Mettler, California (Photo 13). Chavez arranged for photos of
children working in the fields to be published in the UFW newspaper,
El Malcriado, and a poster of Lupita at work was circulated throughout the state. The grower identified in the poster subsequently filed
a lawsuit against Chavez, the UFW, the AFL-CIO, and Murphy. The grower claimed he did not own land in Mettler and that he
did not hire children. During the trial, farm worker families filled the steps of the courthouse and children bearing pay
stubs testified that they worked in the onion fields. The libel charges against the UFW were dismissed. The case brought
public awareness to the fact that children were indeed working in the fields of California in the mid-1970s.
Content Description
This collection consists of photographs taken by Cathy Murphy of farm workers in California (and a few in Arizona), and Cesar
Chavez and the United Farm Workers (UFW) movement from 1975 through 1979, including a few images of labor activists Fred Ross,
Sr. and Dolores Huerta. Murphy documented the plight of workers in the field, Chavez's fight against child labor, and the
1975 Thousand Mile March from the California/Mexico border to Sacramento and finally back to UFW headquarters in Keene, called
"La Paz." The collection contains original photographs and posters and other reproductions of Murphy's UFW work. It also
includes a few items from the 2013 San Francisco State University exhibition, Marching Through History with Cesar Chavez and
the Farm Workers: A Photo Documentary by Cathy Murphy, in which many of these photos were displayed.
General
Collection contains some duplicate photographs.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
United Farm Workers of America -- Photographs.
Labor unions -- Organizing -- California -- Photographs.
Agricultural laborers -- California -- Photographs.
Agricultural laborers -- Arizona -- Photographs.
Children of agricultural laborers -- California -- Photographs.
Child laborers -- California -- Photographs.
Demonstrations -- California -- Photographs.
Huerta, Dolores, 1930- -- Portraits
Ross, Fred, Sr., 1910-1992. -- Portraits.