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Invisible Hands in the Winter Garden: Power, Politics, and Florida’S Bahamian Farmworkers in the Twentieth Century

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Invisible Hands in the Winter Garden: Power, Politics, and Florida’S Bahamian Farmworkers in the Twentieth Century INVISIBLE HANDS IN THE WINTER GARDEN: POWER, POLITICS, AND FLORIDA’S BAHAMIAN FARMWORKERS IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY By ERIN L. CONLIN A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2014 © 2014 Erin L. Conlin To my parents, Joe and Judy Conlin ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I want to thank the members of my supervisory committee: William A. Link, Elizabeth Dale, Maria Stoilkova, Paul Ortiz, and most particularly, Joseph Spillane, for their help and support on this endeavor. Joe is the quintessential mentor and advisor—thoughtful, kind, patient and dedicated. His tireless support throughout this project—and graduate school more broadly— has been invaluable. Joe’s readings and re-readings, criticisms and suggestions, have sharpened my arguments and clarified my thinking. Any success is thanks to him; any shortcomings are solely my own. Over the years I’ve also had the pleasure of getting to know Jennifer, Maggie, and Lily Spillane. I appreciate their welcoming me into their home and family. Speaking of my UF family, I would be remiss if I did not thank the Wise family, Jessica Harland-Jacobs, Matt, Jeremy, and Alexandra Jacobs, as well as Jack Davis, and Sonya and Willa Rudenstien, for their support over the past few years. It was a pleasure getting to know each of you and becoming a part of your families. I also want to thank Allison Fredette, William Hicks, Johanna Mellis, Greg Mason, Ashley Kerr, Taylor Patterson, Rachel Rothstein, Brian Miller, and many others at the University of Florida. They make life more enjoyable, and their intellectual curiosity is inspiring. I deeply appreciate the personal and professional relationships we have forged. Above all, I thank my family. Graduate school would have been impossible without them. I owe an endless debt of gratitude to Jill Baumgarter, Brian Robinson, and Oriane, for welcoming me into their home. They gave me an amazing opportunity to be a part of their family, focus on my work, and explore a new city. Similarly, I thank Sharon and Gene Baumgartner, my second set of “parents,” for always checking in on me and keeping their door open. I appreciate my brother, Tony, and niece, Noelle’s, efforts to stay connected even when we are thousands of miles apart. Catching up with them brightens any day. And finally, I thank my 4 parents, Joe and Judy. They have modeled excellent teaching and what it means to work hard. They have supported me in every way imaginable, throughout my entire life. Their love and generosity is boundless. Words cannot express how much I love and appreciate them. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...............................................................................................................4 LIST OF FIGURES .........................................................................................................................8 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ..........................................................................................................9 ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................10 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................12 2 THE VISION—FLORIDA FARMERS’ QUEST FOR AN ACCESSIBLE AND INVISIBLE WORKFORCE ...................................................................................................30 The Nation’s Winter Garden: Florida and the Rise of Modern Agriculture ...........................37 An Accessible and Invisible Workforce .................................................................................45 3 BOOM AND BUST: THE TRIALS OF BAHAMIAN FARM LABOR IN INTERWAR FLORIDA ...............................................................................................................................69 Boom: Bahamian Migration and Florida Farming, 1890-1926 ..............................................70 Bust: Florida’s Long Depression and the (Temporary) Decline of Bahamian Farm Labor ...92 4 CREATING A NEW AGRICULTURAL LABOR REGIME: FLORIDA AND THE BAHAMIAN/BRITISH WEST INDIAN TEMPORARY FOREIGN LABOR PROGRAM, 1942 TO 1947 .................................................................................................109 Back Door Immigration Policy .............................................................................................111 World War II and Agricultural Labor Demands ...................................................................116 The Debate Over Labor Shortages and Efforts to Control Domestic Workers .............117 Alternative Labor Supplies ............................................................................................129 The Bahamian/BWI Solution ...............................................................................................132 Support for Foreign Labor in the 1940s: .......................................................................134 Muted Opposition to Foreign Labor ..............................................................................138 Bahamian/BWI Program Structure ................................................................................140 Worker Placement .........................................................................................................145 The Importance of the Bahamian/BWI Program ..................................................................147 5 EXPECTATION AND REALITY: GROWERS’ EFFORTS TO SHAPE THE FOREIGN FARM LABOR PROGRAM, 1943—1966 .......................................................153 Labor Supply: Managing the Flow of Bahamian Workers ...................................................156 Labor Quality: Expectations and Realities ...........................................................................171 6 6 WORKERS’ STRUGGLE FOR VISIBILITY DURING THE FARM LABOR PROGRAM, 1943-1966 .......................................................................................................184 Challenging the Terms and Conditions of Employment ......................................................187 The Boundaries of Citizenship and Rights ...........................................................................209 The Roots of Modern Farm Labor Advocacy .......................................................................216 Non-Profit Groups .........................................................................................................218 The African American Press .........................................................................................221 Government and Quasi-government Groups .................................................................225 Local Organizations .......................................................................................................232 Establishing Visibility and a Voice ......................................................................................233 7 CONCLUSION: THE END OF THE BAHAMIAN FOREIGN LABOR PROGRAM AND THE EMERGENCE OF THE MODERN FARM LABOR REGIME .......................235 Promoting Domestic Labor ...................................................................................................237 Contested Policy and Practice ..............................................................................................239 Changing Conditions at Home and Abroad ..........................................................................245 Reducing Legal Access to Foreign Labor .....................................................................245 A Rebounding Bahamian Economy ..............................................................................249 The Emergence of the Modern Farm Labor Regime ............................................................251 LIST OF REFERENCES .............................................................................................................263 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .......................................................................................................273 7 LIST OF FIGURES Figure page Figure 2-1. Post Card, “Truck Farming in Florida.” ......................................................................64 Figure 2-2. Florida Crops and When to Plant. New Series Bulletin—Florida State Department of Agriculture, 1. September 1953. .........................................................65 Figure 2-3. Overview of celery crop and men in the field. 1930s. ................................................66 Figure 2-4. Convicts leased to harvest timber. 191-? ....................................................................66 Figure 2-5. Martin Tabert. December 1921. ..................................................................................67 Figure 2-6. Convicts at work on a privately owned farm. 192-? ...................................................68 Figure 3-1. A New Map of Part of the United States of North America Containing the Carolinas and Georgia. Also the Floridas and Part of the Bahama Islands &c. From the Latest Authorities. By John Cary, Engraver, 1811. ...................................104 Figure 3-2. Hurricane action shot in Miami Beach, Florida. 1926. .............................................104 Figure 3-3. Miami After 1926 Hurricane. 1926. ..........................................................................105 Figure 3-4. Map showing flood damage to the Lake Okeechobee area by
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