GREETINGS to Friends & Supporters,

Here are some recent additions to the Website:

1. Cathy Murphy Photo Gallery – Cathy Murphy has enlarged her gallery on the Website. Her photo albums include: Cesar Chavez; Child Labor; Dolores Huerta; 1000 Mile March, etc. (click here)

2. Jon Lewis Photo Gallery – Jon Lewis has added two photo albums: DiGiorgio Organizing Campaign and DiGiorgio Farmworker Election. (click here)

3. “1966 Impressions: Cesar Chavez & His Farmworker Movement” – The Documentation Project has created a “virtual exhibit” using Jon Lewis photos to give viewers a snapshot overview of the first year of the Delano Grape Strike. (click here)

4. “1966: Cesar Chavez and His NFWA” – Using Jon Lewis photos, the Documentation Project has created a “virtual exhibit” that tells the story of the NFWA. (click here)

5. “A Long Time Coming” (1977) by Dick Meister & Anne Loftis – added to the Books-Out-Of-Print section. (click here)

In March 2008, the Documentation Project will publish on the Website a complete collection (1965-1976) of the farmworker movement newspaper: El Malcriado.

Thank you for your ongoing support and the use of your documentary materials.

LeRoy Chatfield

Who Was Cesar Chavez?

To discover who Cesar Chavez was, Berkeley filmmaker, Ray Telles, interviewed five (5) United Farm Worker volunteers who had worked closely with Cesar Chavez and his farmworker movement for many years during the movement period, 1962-1993.

For the sake of historical authenticity, the interviews are purposely presented in their “as-recorded” raw state. Those interviewed had no advance knowledge of the questions, they were free to answer/comment in any manner they chose, and after the interview had been recorded, there was no censorship of any kind.

The five UFW volunteers who kindly consented to be interviewed – and including their years of UFW service - were: Chris Hartmire 1962-1989; Richard Ybarra 1970-1975 & 1980-1982; Larry Tramutola 1971-1981; Ellen Eggers 1972-1987; and Terry Vasquez Scott 1973 -1987.

The Farmworker Documentation Project is grateful for their participation and offers a special “thank you” to Ray Telles for donating his time and professional skills in conducting these interviews.

Link to ORAL HISTORY: Who Was Cesar Chavez? http://www.farmworkermovement.us/media/oral_history/index.shtml

LeRoy Chatfield Director/Farmworker Movement Documentation Project /January 2008

2007 marked the second complete year of the Website of the Farmworker Movement Documentation Project. The usage statistics are as follows:

UNIQUE VISITORS - 67,000
NUMBER OF VISITS - 121,000
NUMBER OF PAGES VISITED - 1,273,000
NUMBER OF HITS - 2,223,000

2008 is expected to bring an increase in Website usage, perhaps by as much as 50%.

LeRoy Chatfield, Director/Farmworker Movement Documentation Project

Donor Honor Roll – December 2007 Campaign

The following friends/supporters of the Farmworker Movement Documentation Project made a contribution to the Project during the fundraising campaign of December 2007. I wish to express my sincere appreciation to them for their financial support; it is a vote of confidence in what I am trying to accomplish. – LeRoy Chatfield

Jan Adams, Marissa Aroy, Sam Baca, Yolanda Barrera, Cynthia Bonta, Gene Boutilier, Kevin Brown, Roberto Bustos, Duane Campbell, Bill Chandler, LeRoy/Bonnie Chatfield, Ed Chiera, Andy Coe, Robert Coffman, Kate Colwell, Eduardo Cuellar, Robert Datz, Sam Duran, Donald Edwards, Elaine Elinson, Robert/Cathy Farnsworth, Ed Frankel, Jeff Fromberg, Ellen Garza, Beth Gery, Chris Hartmire, Ken Irrgang, Bob Johnson, Paul Johnston, Nick Jones, Mary Kambic, Jerry Kay, Carlos LeGerrette, Dianna Lyons, David McLain, Amy Merrill, Debbie Miller, Margaret Murphy, Sandy Nathan, George Nee, Polly Parks, Ernie Powell, Bob Purcell, Carolyn Purcell, Stephen Rivers, Gloria Serda Rodriguez, Juan Romero, Patty Park, Ramon Romero, Michael Rosenthal, Fran Ryan, Marc Sapir, Terry Vasquez Scott, Hub Segur, Ellen Starbird, Jeff Sweetland, Bob Thompson, Merilyn Wong, Christina Woods, Kriss Worthington.

GREETINGS: Friends/Supporters of the Documentation Project,

The Fall 2007 Website Update is 90% complete - NEW ADDITIONS include:

Essays by Author > Ken and Diana Tittle 1971-1973

Other Essays> (1) Lloyd Rees, “Lessons from the Life of a Great American: Cesar Chavez” 2007; (2) Abby F. Rivera, “Gustavo Romero aka Compis” 2007; LeRoy Chatfield, “Commentary: Philip Vera Cruz” 2007.

Oral History > Cesar Chavez: Pacifica Radio Archives (6 Cesar Chavez interviews from 1966-1973)

Photos > ENTER > INDIVIDUAL PHOTO GALLERIES BY PHOTOGRAPHER: (1) Harvey Richards 1960’s – 560 photos: California farm labor, Delano Grape Strike, March to Sacramento, etc.; (2) Jon Lewis 1966 – 48 photos: DiGiorgio Phony Election; (3) Ruben Montoya 1970- 1974 – 65 photos: Taller Grafico, LaPaz/Keene, etc.; (4) Ilka Hartmann 1972-1993 – 568 photos: SF Union Square Rally, Salinas March, SF Boycott March, Cesar Chavez Funeral.

(NOTE: Photo Captions: it will take several months to add captions to the new photos.)

If you can believe it? The Documentation Project now has 7,175 farmworker movement photos in its Website. In 2008, I expect to add at least 500 more photos.

GREETINGS TO DOCUMENTATION PROJECT SUPPORTERS,

Welcome back from the doldrums of summer, the Farmworker Movement Documentation Project is alive and well and chugging forward.

WEBSITE USAGE:

The Website usage stats for August were down some but September has taken off again like a shot. YTD figures reveal that on September 15th we blew through the 1.5 million Website hit mark and pushed up against the 50th thousand unique visitor mark. Believe me when I say, there is NO end in sight – it is ONLY the beginning.

THE SMITHSONIAN NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN HISTORY WRITES:

“The Farmworker Movement Documentation Project is an ongoing project founded in 2003 by LeRoy Chatfield. The project seeks to compile and publish primary source accounts from the volunteers who worked with Cesar Chavez to build his farmworker movement during the period, 1962-1993. The project provides a wealth of information on the Farm Worker movement and includes numerous essays written by United Farm Worker volunteers as well as video clips, music, oral histories, manuscripts, and photographs. The video and audio links range in length between 1 to 15 minutes and are of Cesar Chavez, footage of various strikes led by the Farm Worker movement, and other documentary information. This is a valuable site for its rich resource of primary source material on Cesar Chavez and the farmworkers movement.”

BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS:

1. The CHAVISTA Daze: Volunteers, Rebel Rousers, Bleeding Hearts by Esperanza Fierro Lopez. Author House © 2007. (An irreverent, humorous, fast paced, insightful, and hands-on account of early UFW organizing in the Fresno area and the Philadelphia Boycott. – LC.)

2. “Philip Vera Cruz: A Personal History of Filipino Immigrants and the Farmworker Movement.” By Craig Scharlin and Lilia Villanueva. University of Washington Press © 2000. (A must read (1) for those interested in the history of the immigration/exploitation of Filipino farmworkers in California; and (2) for those who knew Philip Vera Cruz personally and/or his role in the United Farm Workers. This labor of love, and extremely well-crafted book, by Scharlin and Villanueva is a public service of historical significance and a tribute to Philip and all the UFW Filipino Brothers. – LC)

LAST CALL FOR FALL 2007 UPDATE

I am organizing myself - and assembling the materials - for the last 2007 Website UPDATE. I expect to finish by November 1st.

LAST CALL – if you have photos, music, essays, recorded interviews, video clips, relics, etc. – it is NOT TOO LATE. Act now!!

UPDATE – JUNE 2, 2007 - UPDATE
FARMWORKER MOVEMENT DOCUMENTATION PROJECT

GREETINGS to friends and supporters of the Project:

WEBSITE UPDATE COMPLETED

Oral History:
A massive update to the Oral History Section – more than 80 recorded hours - has been completed. It is not practical to list all the new contents to the Oral History Section; I recommend you surf around and see what is available. This new material has never before been published or made accessible to the public-at-large.

Other Essays:
Two “new” essays – written in 1984 – may be found in Other Essays. I found them especially interesting because that of reporter, John Hubner, is quite critical of Cesar Chavez primarily because of his failure as a labor leader to organize, while that of labor leader, George Nee, is quite laudatory of Chavez because he taught organized labor how to organize.

Photos: (5,919 photos have now been posted on the Website)
Four (4) major additions have been made to the Photo Galleries. (1) Cathy Murphy (1975-1976) – Album: Cesar Chavez & UFW; (2) Jon Lewis – Album: NFWA Student Summer Project 1966; (3) Carlos LeGerrette – The Funeral of Cesar Chavez 1993; and (4) Susan Drake – A personal collection of farmworker memorabilia – some of it quite rare - which can be found in the Relics section (Susan Drake).

WEBSITE USAGE STATS – January 1 to May 31, 2007.

Unique Visitors: 28,600 // Number of Visits: 45,600 // Pages: 351,000 // Hits: 868,000 // Bandwidth: 38 GB

THERE WILL BE AT LEAST ONE MORE WEBSITE UPDATE IN 2007

Again, many thanks to those who have contributed to the development of the Documentation Project Website. All the best, LeRoy Chatfield

APRIL 30, 2007 – UPDATE - FARMWORKER DOCUMENTATION PROJECT

ORAL HISTORY SECTION OVERHAUL – TEN-FOLD INCREASE

Incredible as it may sound, a new Website superstructure had to be built to accommodate more than 90 hours of “newly discovered” farmworker movement oral history. So much new material has been added to the Website, it is not practical to list it all here; the best way to discover its riches is to SURF around the Oral History section and see for yourself.

Suffice it to say: these recorded interviews are first-hand accounts from the people who built the farmworker movement – UFW, church, and boycott leadership. These are the people who did the WORK. It is an amazing documentation lineup of great historical significance.

(NOTE: The Oral History section is 70% complete. More money and time is needed to add the remaining 20%, but we will keep at it until it gets done.)

THANK YOU, PAT HOFFMAN

This new Oral History section would not have been possible without the work of Pat Hoffman, a former staff member with the National Farm Worker Ministry 1971 – 1989. Starting in 1985, she began recording farmworker movement leadership as background for a book she published in 1987, “Ministry of the Dispossessed.” (The text may be found in the ESSAYS section under: Books-Out-Of-Print.)

As with so much of our own personal farmworker movement relics and paraphernalia, these cassette tapes were stored on a closet shelf, high up somewhere out of sight, but not quite out of mind. Because of the Documentation Project Website, Pat Hoffman finally found a welcoming place where this historical material could be published – and accessed almost instantly from anywhere on the planet.

Because of the “discovery” of Pat’s recorded UFW interviews – and the subsequent overhaul of the Website structure to accommodate her work, the Documentation Project was able to add many hours of additional recorded farmworker movement material made available by other UFW volunteers.

THIS IS YOUR OPPORTUNITY TO PUBLISH

If you have farmworker materials stored away – recordings, memos, articles, photos, letters, manuscripts – and would like to see them published, please send me an email (nfwaleroy@hotmail.com) and describe (in some detail) what you have.

WEBSITE USAGE

The Website usage stats for April 2007 continue to soar – all previous monthly records were broken – “smashed” might be a better word. Good news to report: STILL NO END IN SIGHT.

THANKS for your continued support . . . LeRoy Chatfield

UPDATE – FARMWORKER MOVEMENT DOCUMENTATION PROJECT – FEBRUARY 21, 2007

WEBSITE PHOTOS – 5600+ AND COUNTING

I can hardly believe it myself: 5,600+ photos relating to Cesar Chavez and his farmworker movement have now been posted to the Website. If a picture is worth a 1000 words . . . it is a lot of words! My prediction for 2007 is the Website will top out at 7500 photos.

JOHNNY HAMILTON 1973 PHOTOS

In late spring of 1973, a budding photographer by the name of Johnny Hamilton hooked on with the farmworker movement in the Coachella Valley. Without a place to live, he was taken in by a UFW farmworker family and shot film. He documented: (1) picket lines; (2) cops; (3) demonstrations; (4) rallies; (5) La Paz; and most important of all: (6) the UFW constitutional convention in Fresno, CA – middle of September 1973.

Johnny happened upon the Website of the Documentation Project – a complete fluke, he says – and offered to exhibit his photos. (They have never been shown before.) 635 photos have been posted – you will NOT be disappointed. (To access: Website Photo home page > ENTER >INDIVIDUAL PHOTO GALLERIES BY PHOTOGRAPHER> scroll down to JOHNNY HAMILTON PHOTOS 1973)

“FOUNDER” OF UFW BOYCOTT MYSTERY APPARENTLY SOLVED

Mike Miller had posed the question: who was THE person in the movement that had the IDEA for a national boycott? Pat Hoffman, a former staff member for the National Farm Worker Ministry, sent a taped interview she did with Jim Drake in 1985 wherein he explained that in late November 1965, he had asked Cesar Chavez for the OK to begin a national boycott against Schenley Liquors. Cesar was skeptical but said: if you think you can do it, go ahead. Jim relates that he got the idea of a boycott from the civil rights movement and its boycott of the Montgomery bus system. He further states that Chris Hartmire gave him a $1000 seed money from the California Migrant Ministry – which he spent on long distance telephone calls trying to set up a national network of boycott supporters. The rest is history, as they say.

PHOTOGRAPHER JON LEWIS 1966 – MORE PHOTOS POSTED

Photographer Jon Lewis sent another 100 photos to the Documentation Project to post to his Website Photo Gallery. I have set up a special: DOLORES HUERTA album in Jon’s gallery to accommodate his recent offerings. Most of these new photos have never been published before.

Thank you for your ongoing support of the Website of the Farmworker Documentation Project; usage of the Website continues to soar unabated.

LeRoy Chatfield

FARMWORKER DOCUMENTATION PROJECT UPDATE – JANUARY 18, 2007

0 to 100 - NOT BAD – MIKE MILLER ARCHIVE 95% FINISHED – A month ago, the Website of the Farmworker Documentation Project, made no mention of Mike Miller and his 50+ year collection of primary source documents about social movements in the U.S. Today, more than a 100 documents from Miller’s collection relating to the farmworker movement have been published on our Website. (See www.farmworkermovement.us > ESSAYS > Mike Miller Archive) There are hundreds (if not thousands) more that could be published but time and money check our appetite.

A FEW COMMENTS ABOUT THE PUBLISHED DOCUMENTS:

1. It is nearly impossible to overstate the “marketing” contribution made by Chris Hartmire and his California Migrant Ministry to the cause of Cesar Chavez and his farmworker movement, especially during the latter part of the 1960’s and early 1970’s.

2. The idea of a consumer boycott surfaced very early in the Delano Grape Strike. The strike began in mid-September 1965, and the seat-of-the-pants planning for a consumer boycott began by Thanksgiving 1965. It is not yet clear to me “who” sparked the boycott “idea” but it is clear that the NFWA leadership realized that because of wholesale importation of strikebreakers from the Mexico border, a strike in the fields could not be won.

3. In November 1965, from his home in Bakersfield, Marshall Ganz wrote the first “short term specific action program” for the farmworker boycott: “Work. Paper for Plan for Consumer Boycott.” He concludes his paper with this advice: “One person will be needed to co-ordinate this whole scheme for the next three weeks. Wendy could do this since she is mobile.”

4. The documents reveal the significant contributions of some very early boycott volunteers who soon thereafter disappeared from the ongoing farmworker movement scene: Jack Ybarra, Jerry Sampson, Bob Solodow come readily to mind. It seems that social movements in their very early phases attract/recruit – and throw into the breach - certain kinds of whirlwind, high energy, self-starter types who act somewhat independently, and oblivious to the organizational chaos of their fledgling movement, use their own wits (and resources) to get something going; but it cannot last long, and neither do they. Important farmworker movement contributors? You bet!

5. The happy 1965 confluence of national student movements – SNCC, SDS, and CORE – with the desire of the farmworker movement leadership to begin a national consumer boycott provided a ready made jumpstart network of contacts. Ultimately, the farmworkers built their own FULLTIME national (and international) network, but the contacts of the student movement were its starting point.

6. Make no mistake about it, Cesar Chavez was in charge.

QUESTION FROM MIKE MILLER:

“Do any readers of the following have any memory of the origin of the idea of major student involvement in the farm worker boycott?”

The idea for a major national boycott built around student volunteers

It may have been on that pilgrimage that the idea of a major national boycott structure, built around student volunteers, surfaced. As I recall there was a breakfast or lunch meeting someplace along the route that perhaps included the following people: Jimmy Herman, then President of the International Longshoremen’s & Warehousemen’s Union (ILWU), Chris Hartmire, Director of the California Migrant Ministry (which was actively supporting farm worker union efforts), The Movement Editor Terry Cannon, Cesar Chavez, perhaps Marshall Ganz, perhaps one or two other NFWA people and me. A concern expressed in the over-the-meal conversation was the growing number of college students who were showing up in Delano to “help.” Many students were participating in the march as well. There really wasn’t much for the students to do. The question at the table: is there a constructive application of the idealism these students are expressing that can help the farmworkers? Out of that conversation came the idea of the national boycott structure that would send teams of students and farm workers to urban centers across the country.

PLEASE ADVISE