Migrant Farm Workers

By KEads25
  • Period: to

    Timeline Span

  • School's Out

    Kids would stay home from school so they could help their parents harvest. People valued their harvest more than education.
  • Auvil's pay

    Auvil says he remembers being paid $0.75 an hour. After the market crashed, it plummeted to $0.25.
  • Coming and Going

    They left Oklahoma in 1940, and picked cotton in states like Arkansas, Mississippi, and California. Eventually they ended up staying in Washington State.
  • Population Increase

    Within the span from 1942-1944, population increased, schools went from 25 people to 150 people, and they had to build new schools because of it.
  • Recruiting

    Recruiting went on in the 40's, 50's, and the 60's, and they sent out buses for workers in places like Spokane, Seattle, and Portland.
  • Fruit Pickin'

    Sons and daughters of Dustbowl Migrants picked fruits in the '70's.
  • Migration Station

    In the 30's, they migrated to California.
  • Composition

    Composition of labor force changed in the 80's.
  • Immigration Reform and Control Act

    Most foreign workers were granted residence status under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986.
  • No Underage Pickers

    In 1992, children under 16 were no longer allowed to help families pick fruit. Instead of going south for work during Winter, they went to visit their relatives while collecting unemployment.