Mexican labor in the United States

The Harrison High School walkouts of 1968: struggle for equal schools and Chicanismo in Chicago

Surviving a "Carcinogen Rich Environment": Steelworkers' Democratic Intrusion into the Regulation of Coke-Oven Emissions

Poverty, Solidarity, and Opportunity: The 1938 San Antonio Pecan Shellers’ Stirke. (December 2007) Matthew Jerrid Keyworth, B.A., University of Houston Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. David Vaught In 1938, San Antonio’s pecan shellers waged a five-week strike against their employers. The shellers had few resources at their disposal, and, moreover, most of them were Mexican women. During the work stoppage, the picketers endured widespread opposition and police brutality. Nonetheless, the shellers forced their employers to arbitrate. Previous scholars have characterized the strike as spontaneous, but closer examination reveals the events and circumstances that spurred the shellers to action. Specifically, this work will address why the strike occurred at the beginning of 1938, and how the shellers achieved a successful outcome. Political and economic factors in the early twentieth century resulted in a massive wave of migration from Mexico into the U.S. Newly arrived Mexican workers faced discrimination in the workplace and in their personal lives. That discrimination resulted in low wages for Mexican workers. Low wages forced Mexicans in San Antonio to live in the city’s west side neighborhood, which lacked adequate housing and infrastructure. Such conditions gave pecan workers considerable reason to resent their employers and seek change.

Mexican labor in the United States

Citations

The Harrison High School walkouts of 1968: struggle for equal schools and Chicanismo in Chicago

Surviving a "Carcinogen Rich Environment": Steelworkers' Democratic Intrusion into the Regulation of Coke-Oven Emissions

Poverty, solidarity, and opportunity: the 1938 San Antonio pecan shellers' strike

Ethnic Mexicans' Labor Activity in Texas: Class, Citizenship, and Americanization in the 1930s

Making the Desert Bloom: Mexicans and Whites in the Agricultural Development of the Salt River Valley, 1867-1930

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