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United Farm Workers Information Fair collection
MS.R.015  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Access
  • Publication Rights
  • Preferred Citation
  • Acquisition Information
  • Processing History
  • Historical Background
  • Biographical/Historical note
  • Collection Scope and Content Summary
  • Collection Arrangement
  • Separation Note
  • Bibliography

  • Contributing Institution: Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Irvine Libraries
    Title: United Farm Workers Information Fair collection
    Creator: Newcomb, Elizabeth E.
    Creator: Newcomb, Robert L.
    Identifier/Call Number: MS.R.015
    Physical Description: 2.6 Linear Feet (4 boxes and 2 oversize folders)
    Date (inclusive): circa 1959-1975 and undated
    Abstract: This collection comprises fliers, reports, newsletters, photographs, bumper stickers, and ephemera compiled for use at the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee (UFWOC) Information Fair held in San Fernando, California in 1969. The collection is particularly strong in documenting the United Farm Workers (UFW) trade union and its formation; UFW-organized boycotts and strikes, including the Delano Grape Strike from 1965 to 1966; and the working and living conditions of migrant agricultural laborers. Other files document the economic and legal aspects of farm labor, ties between churches and the farm labor movement, and the effect of pesticides on farm laborers. Approximately ten photographs by unidentified photographers depict UFW founder and president Cesar Chavez and others at rallies; agricultural laborers, including children, at work; migrant camps; and medical and dental clinics for laborers.
    Language of Material: The bulk of the collection is in English. Select materials are in Spanish.

    Access

    The collection is open for research.

    Publication Rights

    Property rights reside with the University of California. Copyrights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permission to reproduce or to publish, please contact the Head of Special Collections and Archives.

    Preferred Citation

    United Farm Workers Information Fair collection. MS-R015. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California. Date accessed.
    For the benefit of current and future researchers, please cite any additional information about sources consulted in this collection, including permanent URLs, item or folder descriptions, and box/folder locations.

    Acquisition Information

    Gift of Robert L. and Elizabeth E. Newcomb, date unknown. Additional material was donated by the Newcombs in 2011.

    Processing History

    Processed by Karen Rosen, 2001. Additional materials processed by Ernesto Bassi and Audrey Pearson, 2008.

    Historical Background

    The California farm labor movement began in the 1960s when the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee began unionizing California farm workers. The National Farm Workers Association was founded by Cesar Chavez, and later became the United Farm Workers of America (UFW). In 1968 Chavez launched a boycott of California table grape growers and was successful in mobilizing consumer support throughout the United States. In 1970 the UFW, with Chavez as president, became a member union of the AFL-CIO. Chavez made people across the country aware of the struggles of farm workers for better pay and safer living conditions and succeeded by using nonviolent tactics including boycotts, fasting, pickets, and strikes.

    Biographical/Historical note

    Chronology

    1962 Cesar Chavez founds the National Farm Workers Assocation.
    1966 Cesar Chavez and a band of strikers embark on a 340-mile pilgrimage from Delano to the steps of the state capitol in Sacramento to draw national attention to the situation of farm workers.
    1966-1967 A boycott and strike of the DiGiorgio Fruit Corp. forces the giant grape grower to agree to an election among its workers. The workers vote for the United Farm Workers (UFW), led by Chavez.
    1966-1967 The UFW strikes the Giumarra Vineyards Corporation, California's largest table grape grower. In response to the boycott other grape growers allow Giumarra to use their labels. As a result, the UFW begins a boycott of all California table grapes.
    1967-1970 Hundreds of grape strikers disperse across North America to organize an international grape boycott. Millions of Americans rally to the farm workers' cause, called "La Causa."
    1969 United Farm Workers Organizing Committee Information Fair in San Fernando, California.
    1970 As the grape boycott grows, most California table grape growers sign UFW contracts.
    1972 The UFW is chartered as an independent affiliate by the AFL-CIO, becoming the United Farm Workers of America, AFL-CIO.
    1973-1975 According to a nationwide poll conducted by Louis Harris, 17 million Americans are boycotting grapes. Many are also boycotting lettuce and Gallo wine.

    Collection Scope and Content Summary

    This collection comprises fliers, reports, newsletters, photographs, bumper stickers, and ephemera compiled for use at the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee (UFWOC) Information Fair held in San Fernando, California in 1969. The collection is particularly strong in documenting the United Farm Workers (UFW) trade union and its formation; UFW-organized boycotts and strikes, including the Delano Grape Strike from 1965 to 1966; and the working and living conditions of migrant agricultural laborers. Other files document the economic and legal aspects of farm labor; ties between churches and the farm labor movement; and the effect of pesticides on farm laborers. Approximately ten photographs by unidentified photographers depict UFW founder and president Cesar Chavez and others at rallies; agricultural laborers, including children, at work; migrant camps; and medical and dental clinics for laborers.
    All items were collected by Robert L. and Elizabeth E. Newcomb. Robert was a senior lecturer at UC Irvine (UCI) in the Department of Social Science until his retirement in 2006. In 1970 he taught a farm labor and business course at UCI. Elizabeth was Coordinator of Volunteers for the UCI Health Education department.

    Collection Arrangement

    The collection is arranged topically. Materials are arranged alphabetically within each topical grouping.

    Separation Note

    Select publications were removed from this collection and cataloged separately in Special Collections and Archives.

    Bibliography

    Dunne, John Gregory. Delano: The Story of the California Grape Strike . New York: Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, 1967.
    Ferris, Susan. The Fight in the Fields: Cesar Chavez and the Farmworkers Movement. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1997.

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    Delano Grape Strike, 1965-1966 -- Archives.
    Strikes and lockouts -- Vineyard laborers -- California -- Archives.
    Ephemera
    Labor leaders -- United States
    Vineyard laborers -- California -- Labor unions -- Archives.
    Agricultural laborers -- California -- Labor unions.
    Boycotts -- California
    Migrant agricultural laborers -- California -- Archives.
    Agricultural laborers -- California .
    Activists.
    Photographic prints
    Chavez, Cesar -- Archives
    United Farm Workers -- Archives