A Bracero Enters the United States (with text supports)
In this oral history Alvaro Hernandez describes how he entered the United States, first as an illegal worker and then as a bracero. Mr. Hernandez was born in Jilemes, Chihuahua, Mexico. His father was an agricultural worker and his mother was a [...]
A Migrant Worker Describes the Hard Work in the Northwest
The following is an excerpt of an interview with Guadalupe Gamboa conducted by the Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies. Gamboa describes the difficult life of migrant farmworkers on the west coast that kept workers isolated and made it difficult [...]
A Railroad Titan Explains Why the Chinese are Good for White Workers
The "divide-and-conquer" tactics used by bosses pitted different ethnic groups against one another and native-born workers against all immigrants. It often worked out better for white workers than for Asians. Charles Crocker, one of the "Big Four" [...]
A Bracero Enters the United States
In this oral history Alvaro Hernández describes how he entered the United States, first as an illegal worker and then as a bracero. Mr. Hernández was born in Jilemes, Chihuahua, Mexico. His father was an agricultural worker and his [...]
A Bracero Is Disenchanted With the United States
Despite rumors that braceros would be sent off to fight in World War II, Manuel Sandoval Espino joined the bracero program in 1943. He recalls having to go to the local politician in order to get a pass to join. Mr. Sandoval worked in Kansas as a [...]
A Bracero Protests Low Pay and Discrimination
Although he had received a rare scholarship to attend middle school, Andrés Héctor Quezada Lara dropped out to become a bracero. His work took him to many places in the United States, including South Dakota, Minnesota, Illinois, [...]
Telling the Whole Story Worksheets
These worksheets help students gather evidence from the Five Points census database. Students then compare their data with prevailing 19th century stereotypes of Irish immigrants and conclude whether or not they were accurate. These worksheets are [...]
A Spanish-Language Newspaper Calls for an End of "Disagreeable Migration" to the U.S.
Lands and mines cannot produce wealth without labor. Anglo-American mine owners, plantation managers and ranchers recruited Mexican and Mexican-American workers as a cheap source of labor. The western economy depended on the constant northward flow [...]
Statistics about Life in Five Points
Five Pointers were destitute when they arrived and settled in New York’s poorest and most run-down neighborhood. On top of this, Irish Five Pointers worked for some of the lowest wages in the most dangerous and unstable jobs in the city. [...]
Background Essay and Worksheet on Immigrant Working Women
This is a shortened, edited version of Immigrant Women in the Land of Dollars (excerpt) used in The Pay Envelope: A Role Play activity. It helps students to determine the main ideas of the text by matching summary statements to the paragraphs in [...]