Finding aid to the Cathy Murphy United Farm Worker (UFW) Photographs
Finding aid prepared by Wendy Welker.
Labor Archives and Research Center
2019
San Francisco State University
J. Paul Leonard Library, Room 460
1630 Holloway Ave
San Francisco 94132-1722
larc@sfsu.edu
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.
Series 1:
Photographs
1975-1979
Physical Description: 57 Photographic Prints (Box 1-4, photographs 1-57)
Scope and Contents
This series consists of photos of farm workers, ranging from images of them working or participating in the Thousand Mile
March and other events to informal portraits. It also contains many images of Cesar Chavez and a few of labor activists Dolores
Huerta and Fred Ross, Sr. Titles of photos were provided by Cathy Murphy, except those noted as supplied by cataloger.
box 1, photograph 01
Shadows of the marchers
1975
box 1, photograph 02: A-B
Cesar eating watermelon on 1,000 mile March of Liberation
1975
box 4, photograph 03
Farm workers and supporters pass under cross during Thousand Mile March
1975
box 3, photograph 04
Cesar giving instructions to Richard Ybarra on the Thousand Mile March
1975
box 3, photograph 05
Long line of supporters on the Thousand Mile March
1975
box 3, photograph 06
Farm workers from Moorpark on the Thousand Mile March
1975
box 3, photograph 07
Canadian boycotters join the Thousand Mile March
1975
box 3, photograph 08
Through the grape fields near Delano
1975
box 3, photograph 09
Rally after march into Salinas (Alternate title: Labor leaders join Cesar Chavez at rally after 1,000 mile march into Salinas)
1975
box 1, photograph 10
Devout supporter at farm worker rally, Coachella Valley, Calif.
1975
box 1, photograph 11
Cesar Chavez in Sacramento
1975
box 1, photograph 12
Little boy and his dog outside farm workers' housing
1975
box 4, photograph 13: A, box 1, photograph 13: B-C
Lupita Galvan at work in the onion fields near Mettler, California
1975
box 1, photograph 14
Cesar speaking at Napa rally after the march, Felix Gonzales, security guard [in background]
1975
box 4, photograph 15
Felix Gonzales on guard for Cesar Chavez, Napa, Calif.
undated
box 3, photograph 16
Cesar Chavez and his dogs, Boycott and Huelga
1975
box 3, photograph 17
Farmworker women with flags lead march into Soledad
1975
box 3, photograph 18
Cesar smiles during a press conference/rally in Napa, Calif.
1975
box 1, photograph 19
Cesar's mentor, Fred Ross, Sr.
circa 1975-1976
box 1, photograph 20
Cesar Chavez talking to Fred Ross, Sr. and Richard Chavez
circa 1975-1976
box 2, photograph 21
Cesar Chavez signs his photo as Willie Brown auctions off another at fundraiser in Los Angeles
circa 1975
box 1, photograph 22
Dolores Huerta, Vice President of the United Farm Workers
1975
box 4, photograph 23
Arab worker in Delano
1975
box 3, photograph 24: A-B, box 1, photograph 24: C
Cesar Chavez (My first photograph of Cesar Chavez)
1975
box 1, photograph 25
Tony Tejada, lettuce worker
1976
box 1, photograph 26
Woman wearing bandanna working in the fields
1976
General
Title supplied by cataloger.
box 1, photograph 27
Woman in protective clothing in strawberry field near Prunedale, California
1976
box 1, photograph 28
Finding a bed in the labor camp
1976
box 1, photograph 29
There's Blood on Those Grapes
1976
Scope and Contents
Color photo of two women in march, one of them wearing a t-shirt reading,
There's Blood on Those Grapes.
box 4, photograph 30
Cesar holds meeting in La Paz
1976
box 4, photograph 31
Cesar Chavez and the children of La Paz, Keene, California
1976
box 4, photograph 32
Filipino farmworker in his room at Agbayani Village Retirement Center, Delano, Calif.
1976
box 2, photograph 33
Old man with short-handled hoe taking a break, Marana, Arizona
1977
box 2, photograph 34
Workers thinning lettuce with short-handled hoes, Arizona
1977
box 4, photograph 35
Migrant worker, El Mirage, Arizona
undated
box 4, photograph 36
Farm worker looses arm after being refused care in Arizona hospital
circa 1977-1978
box 4, photograph 37
Cesar Chavez speaking at 3rd Farm Workers Convention, Coachella, California
1977
box 2, photograph 38
Cesar Chavez and his dogs, Boycott and Huelga, in Coachella
1977
box 1, photograph 39
Cesar Chavez petting his dogs, Boycott and Huelga, in Coachella, California
1977
General
Title supplied by cataloger.
box 2, photograph 40
Lettuce loaders still at work after dark, Maricopa County, AZ
1977
box 2, photograph 41
Widow and son of slain farmworker Rufino Contreras, Calexico, Calif.
1979
box 2, photograph 42
Widow and son of slain farmworker, Rufino Contreras, Calexico, Calif. [detail]
1979
box 2, photograph 43: A, box 1, photograph 43: B
Woman mourning death of slain farmworker Rufino Contreras
1979
General
Photo B has alternate title: Mourner at the funeral of Rufino Contreras, Calexico, CA.
box 4, photograph 44
Fred Ross, Sr. and Dolores Huerta
undated
box 2, photograph 45
Cesar Chavez sitting with his dog
undated
General
Title supplied by cataloger.
box 4, photograph 47
Cesar, the farmer, working in his garden at La Paz
undated
box 2, photograph 48
Cesar Chavez at rally
undated
box 1, photograph 57
Cesar Chavez speaking in front of KOXR microphones
undated
General
Title supplied by cataloger.
box 1, photograph 49
Cesar Chavez smiling
undated
General
Title supplied by cataloger.
box 1, photograph 50
Cesar Chavez and Cathy Murphy
undated
General
Title supplied by cataloger.
box 1, photograph 51
Farmworkers picking lettuce
undated
General
Title supplied by cataloger.
box 1, photograph 52
Cesar Chavez sitting with children holding signs protesting child labor and endorsing Yes on Proposition 14
undated
General
Title supplied by cataloger.
box 2, photograph 53
Cesar Chavez speaking in Coachella, Calif.
1977
box 1, photograph 54
Farmworker wearing hat and bandanna
undated
General
Title supplied by cataloger.
box 1, photograph 55
John Mayer, president of Delancey Street Foundation, San Francisco, speaking at UFW convention
undated
box 4, photograph 56
Clergymen gathered on UFW stage
undated
General
Title supplied by cataloger.
Series 2:
Reproductions
circa 1975-2006
Physical Description: 3 folders (Box 5)
Scope and Contents
This series comprises posters, Christmas cards, a flyer, bookmark, and newspaper clipping that include reproductions of Cathy
Murphy photographs.
box 5, folder 1
Christmas cards
1976
Scope and Contents
Six Christmas cards adheared to cardboard. Cards feature photo reproductions by Cathy Murphy and verses by Murphy and Dianne
Lyons. Five of the images are of children. Published by United Farm Workers of America.
box 5, folder 2
Poster - We Fought For It/Demand The Union Label
undated
box 5, folder 3
Poster - Farm Worker Week, May 2-8, 1976/National Farm Worker Ministry
1976
box 5, folder 1
Poster - Prayer of the Farm Workers' Struggle
undated
box 5, folder 2
Campaign flyer - Cesar Chavez and the Farm Workers ask you to.../Farm Workers Yes on 14
undated
box 5, folder 3
Campaign poster - Stop Child Labor/United Farm Workers Yes on 14
undated
box 5, folder 3
Campaign poster - Cesar Chavez Speaks/United Farm Workers Yes on 14
undated
box 5, folder 2
Exhibition poster - Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers' Movement: An Intimate Portrait by Cathy Murphy
2006
box 5, folder 1
Bookmark - Dia De Cesar Chavez
undated
Scope and Contents
Contains two of the same bookmark.
box 5, folder 1
Newspaper clipping - Photograph of Rufino Contreras funeral, In These Times, Feb. 28-March 6, 1979
1979
Series 3:
Exhibition material
2013
Physical Description: 4 items (Box 5)
Scope and Contents
Material consists of announcement poster and three text panels used in the exhibition, Marching Through History with Cesar
Chavez and the Farm Workers: A Photo Documentary by Cathy Murphy. The exhibition was sponsored by the Labor Archives and
Research Center and showed at the J. Paul Leonard Library Gallery at San Francisco State University from April 3 through September
30, 2013.
box 5
Text panels
2013
Note on Contents
Two of the text panels were written by Cathy Murphy and contain descriptions of the work in the exhibition.
