A complex set of interacting forces both economic and ecological brought the migrant workers documented in this ethnographic collection to California. ... read more
In 1930 and during the subsequent decade, 2.5 million migrant workers left the Plains states due to the destruction caused by the so-called Dust Bowl. Between 200,000 and 1.3 million of these migrant workers moved to California, where they became seasonal farm laborers. read more
There have always been migrants here, there always will be. The 1930’s were no different. Like all migrants they came in search of a better life and more opportunity and political and religious freedom. read more
Loftis reviews state and local policies to cope with the arrival of Americans from other parts of the US in California during the 1930s. In Fall 1931, migrants were arriving in the state at the rate of 1,200 to 1,500 a day, an annual rate of almost 500,000 (p109). read more