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Organizing Immigrant Labor in the Pacific Northwest, 1940-1990 By By Forests or By Fields: Organizing Immigrant Labor in the Pacific Northwest, 1940-1990 By Mario Jimenez Sifuentez II B.A. University of Oregon 2002 M.A. University of Oregon 2004 M.A. Brown University 2005 A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of American Civilization at Brown University Providence, Rhode Island May 2010 ©Copyright 2010 by Mario Jimenez Sifuentez II This dissertation by Mario J. Sifuentez II is accepted in its present form by the Department of American Civilization as satisfying the dissertation requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Date_____________ ________________________ Matthew Garcia, Advisor Recommended to the Graduate Council Date_____________ ______________________________ Evelyn Hu-DeHart, Reader Date_____________ ______________________________ Karl Jacoby, Reader Approved by the Graduate Council Date_____________ ______________________________ Sheila Bonde, Dean of the Graduate School iii Curriculum Vitae Mario Jimenez Sifuentez II Date of Birth: March 25, 1979 Place of Birth: Nampa, Idaho Education: Ph.D., American Civilization, Brown University, Providence, RI, 2010 M.A., American Civilization, Brown University, Providence, RI, 2005 M.A., History, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, 2004 B.A., Ethnic Studies, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, 2002 iv Acknowledgements I would like to begin by thanking the most important people in my life, Mario and Lilia Sifuentez. It would be cliché to say that none of this would have been possible without them, but in this case, fitting and true. My parents are two of the hardest working people I have ever know and I am grateful that I have inherited a small portion of their work ethic. From an early age my parents instilled in me a profound sense of social justice that I strive to live up to. My sister also deserves credit for this dissertation. We grew up close and I count her among one of my very best friends. I also live vicariously through her. While I write about labor organizing, my sister is entrenched in it. Her work with Jobs with Justice is invaluable and makes concrete change in people’s lives. I don not tell her nearly enough how proud of her I am. Hopefully, now that it is committed to paper she can look at these printed words and know how often I think of her. I would like to thank my enormous extended family. There are way too many of you to name, but know that each one of you has influenced my life and politics. My family has labored in the fields for over five decades and I am indebted to the sacrifices they made so that future generations could take advantage of opportunities they never had. My grandmothers have been an inspiration to me. Although very different from one another, I have never met two more powerful forces of nature. My director, advisor, mentor, and brother Matt Garcia has played the most influential role in my life, with the exception of my parents. He continues to mentor me through a profession that I was ill equipped to handle. As the son of migrant farm workers and a first generation college student I had no idea what the writing of a v dissertation entailed. Matt Garcia has guided me through the transition from consuming knowledge to producing it. Matt welcomed me into his family and made the transition to graduate school an easier one. His children Mauricio and Timotea put a smile on my face more times than I care to count. I would like to thank Karl Jacoby for his expertise in western history, environmental history, and for being a reader of my dissertation. Karl’s passion has ignited in me a desire to become a better student of the environment and the West. I would also like to thank Evelyn Hu-DeHart for being a reader and for providing me a workspace at the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity. Evelyn also consistently opened the doors to her home for graduation, Super Bowl, and playoff parties. I learned a lot from Evelyn not only academically, but also as her sous-chef. While I am not yet a master of Chinese cuisine, I believe I am well on my way. My fellow graduate students, Matt Delmont, Marcia Chatlain, Sarah Wald, Julie Weise, Jerry Cadava, Hilary Jenks, Felicia Salinas-Moniz, and Mireya Loza, at one point or another offered invaluable advice, comments, sources, and suggestions. My special thanks goes to Larry Kleinman and the people at PCUN. They have been gracious with their time, memory, and archives. I am grateful for their trust and for their work in the farm worker community. Larry Kleinman was essential to the completion of this dissertation. His insight, candidness, and connections led me down a fruitful path of discovery. The staffs at the University of Oregon special collections, the Four Rivers Cultural Center, Malheur County Library, University of Texas El Paso Oral History Project, and the Smithsonian all contributed to the completion of this dissertation. Special thanks goes to Erin Linell, for her help tracking down legal cases. Most vi importantly I would like to thank the numerous people I interviewed for this dissertation. Their stories make up an important part of the history of this country and it was a privilege to share them. As a working class student, affordable housing is at a premium and I would like to thank Julie Prince and Cuong Ong for providing a roof over my head while I wrote. In the same vein, during graduate school I worked as a construction worker, martial arts instructor, club security, and DJ. I am grateful to have met so many wonderful co- workers in particular Mannish, Cloudy, Mr. J, and Anibal. The political discussions that we had during work and after hours rival any that I have had in a classroom. I would like to thank my other family. My family of friends that have kept me humble and grounded but still fiercely competitive. My best friend and brother Ty Shaw has been with me every step of the way since we were six years old. I am so proud of your accomplishments on the basketball court but even prouder of how you have grown as a human being. Your mother and father were instrumental in making me feel like I was somebody who had something to say. I hope that someday I can repay them for the generosity they showed me. I also hope that some day I can pay you back for all that you have given me. A special acknowledgment to the other members of the Four Horsemen: Keith Allen, Ryan Shaw, and Marley Tucker, without you guys I would not be the person I am today. I will always remember our time at Oregon together as some of the most enjoyable and wild times of my life. I have enough stories to write a book, lets hope I never have that urge. I look forward to making more stories together in the near future. vii While I was at Oregon I was also lucky enough to make the acquaintance of Huy Ong. Huy you are a tremendous activist and organizer. I appreciate everything that you have done for my sister and me. Your work is almost as priceless as it is thankless. Know that future scholars will be writing about the work you and your fellow activists do. As a graduate teacher at Oregon I had the pleasure of teaching many gifted students but one stood out amongst the rest. Mark Tanachi Padoongpatt is one of the reasons I love teaching so much. I am grateful to have had you as a student, a friend, and very soon a colleague. To my friends I grew up with, you guys are a special inspiration to me. We faced many of the same difficulties in our lives and we traveled a myriad of different paths. Yet I do not know a group of friends that remains as close as we do after all these years. Thank you, Benny, Spank, Big Roach, Lil’ Roach, Dom, JB, Manzo, Twinkie, Pelota, Butler, and Hall. I want to thank those people who made my final year in Providence a memorable one. Maria Hwang, Heather Lee, and Tam Tran are just the latest in a long line of American Civilization graduate students that know how to have fun and at the same time be exemplary scholars. Finally and most importantly I want to thank Sarah Garcia. Your companionship, comfort, and love have proven to be the final push I needed to get across the finish line. You are one of the most compassionate, caring, genuine, and understanding people I have ever met. You are well on your way to being an outstanding doctor in your own right, but like a real doctor! viii From the Forests to the Fields: Organizing Immigrant Labor in the Pacific Northwest, 1940-1990 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………..1 Chapter 1- Many Miles from Home: Braceros in the Pacific Northwest………………..25 Chapter 2 - Los Tejanos: Texas-Mexican Diaspora in Oregon………………………….66 Chapter 3 - The Genesis of the Willamette Valley Immigration Project……………….103 Chapter 4 - Whip that Hoedad in the Ground: Undocumented Workers in the National Forest……………………………………………………………………………………147 Chapter 5 - “Now I Can Hold My Own With Anybody”: Immigrant Organizing and the Pineros y Campesinos Unidos Noroeste (PCUN)………………………………………199 Epilogue………………………………………………………………………………...239 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………240 ix List of Illustrations Figure 1: Map of Pacific Northwest Figure 2: Railroad Pick Figure 3: Atanacio Jiménez López and other railroad workers. Albany, Oregon Figure 4: Map of Malheur County Figure 5: Colegio César Chávez Poster Figure 6: Willamette Valley Figure 7: Ramón Ramírez Figure 8: Map of Woodburn, Oregon Figure 9: Hoedad x 1 Introduction In 1975 Ernest Callenbach’s novel Ecotopia, about a secessionist, ecologically stable Northwest, gripped the nation.
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