Managing the Migration: Latino Intermediaries and the Expansion of United States Migratory Labor after World War I
Presented by the Center for Research on Race and Ethnicity in Society
Presented by the Center for Research on Race and Ethnicity in Society
Juan Mora
CRRES Postdoctoral Scholar
Department of History
Indiana University
Thursday, November 10, 4:00pm
Maple Room, IMU
This talk will chart the migration of ethnic-Mexican agricultural workers to the Midwest in the years following the United States’ entrance into World War I, the formalization of an interstate labor recruitment apparatus, and the role of ethnic intermediaries. From the end of World War I through the end of the Bracero Program, Latino intermediaries straddled the line between serving the interests of other ethnic-Mexican migrant workers, growers, and themselves. While some intermediaries developed profitable business operations, their success often came at the expense of other Latino migrant agricultural workers. This examination of the critical role of Latino intermediaries in sustaining Midwestern agribusiness deepens our understanding of how migration from the Southwest to the Midwest was managed and how Latinos negotiated emerging tensions of class and ethnicity.