Delano and the United Farm Workers Movement: A Grassroots History

Abstract

The proposed research project will be an historical interpretation of, and investigation into, the social and political norms of the mid-twentieth century United States that spurred the unification of a segmented community into a political body of mass influence. Although the research will cover the general history of Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers Movement, the study will focus on the pivotal points that altered the course of personal, political and group histories and identities, and the legacies these events left behind. For this particular project data will be collected from conducting interviews with family members who resided in the area and/or participated in the events during the described era, sorting through government documents and archived periodicals mainly from the state of California as well as several publications from the Pacific Northwest and the Four Corners region of the United States. In addition, an abundance of published articles and secondary resources will be examined for background information. The goal of the study is two fold, to provide a concise examination of the development of the United Farm Workers Union and Cesar Chavez in parallel with the history of Delano, California. The second aim of the project is to expand on prior research both in favor and in opposition of the UFW in relation to journey and experiences of my own family as to offer the reader or audience an insider prospective of events that changed American history in the Southwest.