Ripe for Change

– Sergio Gonzlez: Hey, Nick!

How’s it going?

– Nick Hoffman: Hey, Sergio!

– What ya got going on here?

– I just got back from the farmer’s market.

I’ve got a lot of great things for the week.

We’ve got some cranberries, some peas, cucumbers, potatoes.

We’re gonna have a great meal.

– You know, I am seeing a bit of a pattern here.

Do you see something interesting that connects all these?

– Yeah, these are all delicious.

– Well, I mean, obviously.

I mean, these snap peas, mm, definitely in season.

But there’s something that connects them to Wisconsin history.

– Are you telling me that cucumbers were invented in the state?

– No, Nick, that’s not it at all.

You know what?

Why don’t we head to the Wisconsin Historical Society, learn a little bit about agricultural history and what connects all of these foods.

– Sounds great to me; let’s go.

– All right.

[upbeat music] [television static] – Where are you taking me?

– Let’s get on.

– All right.

[Sergio whistling] [easy music] – Sergio: So what do you think about that weather we’re having?

– Nick: Yeah, not too buggy.

– Yep.

[doors wooshing] Come on.

– Let’s go.

– So, Nick, what do you think?

– It looks like a bunk bed.

I don’t really understand what this has to do with food.

Are you trying to tell me not to eat in bed?

– I mean, that’s generally a good idea.

You should probably remember that.

But this is actually an important piece of history that connects it directly to the history of fruits and vegetables in the state of Wisconsin.

– So, Sergio, tell me more.

– Yeah, so you might imagine one of these beds would’ve existed in the hundreds of migrant camps that were around Wisconsin in the 1940s and 1950s.

Wisconsin, after World War II, became one of the major producers of fruits and vegetables all across the United States.

All of that work was dependent on migrant farm work.

These are people who traveled from across the country to come to Wisconsin in the growing and the harvesting season to help our state produce this work.

– And where were folks coming from to do this work?

– So before World War II, the majority of migrant farm workers in Wisconsin were actually people who lived within the state.

After World War II, when Wisconsin became such a prolific producer of all these vegetables, we needed more labor.

And so farm camps recruited people all the way down from Texas.

Go down to the borderlands region, and bring up people to do this work.

A lot of those people were Texas Mexicans, American citizens of Mexican descent, and they would come here every single season to do this work.

Why was there such a big jump in the need for agricultural workers starting in the 1940s?

Well, one important part of the context was World War II.

Young men were overseas fighting in the war.

And both men and women were leaving rural areas to find industrial work in the cities, which led to a shortage of workers in rural areas all across the country.

Now, to try to fix this, the American government started programs in 1942 and ’43 to recruit workers from other countries, specifically Mexico, Jamaica, the Bahamas, and modern Belize.

For Wisconsin, this meant that by 1944, foreign workers were over half of all workers in places like Door County, which was then famous for its cherry harvest.

And that cherry harvest was another reason Wisconsin needed workers.

The cherry harvest was booming.

Without migrant workers, there’s simply no way all this work, harvesting cherries and other crops, could have been done in places like Door County, Wisconsin, and all across the country.

Let’s take a look at this, Nick.

It’s pretty rickety though.

You have these socks that are kind of binding together the springs.

You see a kind of little clips bringing some of those pieces together.

And obviously the paint is also flaking on this bunk bed.

And so it’s seen better days, but it kinda really drives home the point that migrant farm workers were kind of living in any condition they could find here in the state of Wisconsin.

[yawns] Well, bunk beds like this were used for, well, sleeping.

More importantly, they were used by migrant families in the area for decades.

A bed like this one had quite a journey through history.

It started out as an army bunk bed, was used by the Redgranite Pickle Company, and was eventually bought by a migrant family in the early 1970s.

And that’s when Gerarda T. Contreras, who had decided to settle in Wisconsin permanently in 1967, bought this bed for her family.

Now, it may not be the most comfortable bed, but it’s pretty amazing to think of its connection to so many people from the state’s history.

Beds like this were a key part of the daily life for the thousands of migrant workers who worked long, hard hours supplying the nation with its food.

[Nick yawns] – Can you keep it down over there?

– This bunk bed that we’re looking at is an army surplus bunk bed.

So this would’ve been used during World War II by U.S. soldiers.

Afterwards, a lot of these bunk beds are just kinda sold off.

And so migrant camps like the one here at Redgranite Pickle Company in Waushara County took these types of bunk beds and stuck them in their camps.

And the reality was that for many migrant farm workers who arrived in these camps, the conditions were not very good.

The work was very hard, but even more difficult was the fact that they lived in camps that often didn’t have running water, sanitation, any form of recreation.

– And so if the conditions were tough, I’m wondering about if any of the workers ever organized?

Did they ever try to push back on employers to improve conditions?

– Yeah, that’s a great question, Nick.

You know, it was really difficult for workers to do anything about their working conditions for a long time.

Mostly because these workers depended on their employers, not just for the jobs, but also for the places in which they lived.

So remember that the migrant camps were owned by the companies that were also employing the workers.

Now, what does Nick mean when he asked if the migrant workers ever tried to organize?

Well, when talking about workers, organizing means coming together to form a labor union.

What’s a labor union?

It’s a group of workers who have decided that by working together, they have more power to fight for better pay, better working conditions, better hours, and more.

This unified approach of supporting each other is known as solidarity.

But why do the migrant farm workers feel the need to come together to form a union?

Well, throughout most of the 20th century, many migrant laborers worked under some pretty tough conditions.

Their hours were long, their pay was low, and the housing that was made available to them was anything but comfortable.

They realized that the only way to change those conditions would be by joining together and fighting with a unified voice.

It wasn’t until the 1960s, during the civil rights era, that migrant farm workers began to ask themselves, “What are the different ways that we can begin “to organize ourselves together, and petition for better living and working conditions?”

– For the folks working in these communities, what was that like?

How were they received in places like Appleton, or Waushara County, or Door County?

– Yeah, it was not always an easy transition.

And so oftentimes there was a contentious relationship, some friction between local residents here in Wisconsin and those Texas Mexican migrant farm workers.

It didn’t really happen ’til in the late 1940s, early 1950s, that civic organizations, church groups here in Wisconsin, began to ask themselves, “How can we be more hospitable “and create a more welcoming environment for the people who are arriving here?”

– The 1940s and ’50s were really the height of the migrant worker and agricultural boom in Wisconsin.

But migrant workers continued to come to the state for decades, and still do.

Many migrant workers also chose to settle permanently in Wisconsin, and now call the state their home.

Across the United States, agricultural work is also still hugely important, and the majority of it’s done by immigrant laborers.

Without their work, the farm industry as we know it simply wouldn’t survive.

Just about everything you eat is on your plate thanks to their work.

[light music] [pea pod crunching] – The heyday, the high point of migrant farm workers coming to the state of Wisconsin is really the 1950s.

And so today, there aren’t as many migrant farm workers doing this work.

But there still are families who are engaged in this labor all across the state of Wisconsin.

And so I don’t think it’s farfetched to say that we need these migrant farm workers to really have the food that we provide for our families every single night.

– So how are we getting down from here?

– Uh, that’s a good point, Nick.

I hope you brought a pillow.

I think we’re staying up here for a bit.

– Yeah, it’s gonna be a long night.

– So, Nick, what’d you think?

– Everything you shared with me about the migrant bed was absolutely fascinating.

I learned so much about the state’s rich history of migration and agriculture.

It really helped me put together a much better understanding of Wisconsin.

– It’s a great reminder, Nick, that all the objects around us have a deep history, and really help connect us to our state.

Migrant workers like the Contreras family that used the bunk bed were and are a key part of our nation’s food supply.

And the bunk bed is a reminder of how simple, everyday objects can be filled with history.

They contain the stories of generations, and can be a jumping-off point for exploring the past.

Do you have an everyday object that has been a part of your family for a long time?

Or do you have a connection to the state’s farming and agriculture history?

Try asking an older relative for some help and see what you find out.

Then share what you learn with your classmates.

See just how many everyday objects you can find that are filled with history.

– Tell me more.

– Yeah.

[all laughing] Whether it’s the sugar beets on your table, the sugar beets on your table.

[laughs] I have no idea.

[laughs] – [laughs] Okay, all right.

A few minutes ago, you read off all the…

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