Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2004 From Oklahomans to "Okies": identity formation in rural California Toni Ann Alexander Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations Part of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Alexander, Toni Ann, "From Oklahomans to "Okies": identity formation in rural California" (2004). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 2651. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/2651 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. FROM OKLAHOMANS TO “OKIES”: IDENTITY FORMATION IN RURAL CALIFORNIA A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Geography and Anthropology by Toni Ann Alexander B.A., California State University, Stanislaus, 1994 M.A., Louisiana State University, 1997 May 2004 ©Copyright 2004 Toni Ann Alexander All rights reserved ii Until the lion writes his own story, The tale of the hunt will always glorify the hunter. - African Proverb If you must attack the bear you can’t afford to think small! – Old Okie Proverb iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Seldom is a project such as this dissertation the result of only a single person’s efforts. I must, of course, begin by extending my thanks to the entire Department of Geography and Anthropology at Louisiana State University – you have been more than professional colleagues and friends, you have been family for the past nine years. Even in my absences from the state, you continue to support me. I now understand why graduates from the Department all wish they could return. There are some individuals from LSU that deserve a special thanks for their efforts on my behalf over the years. I want to thank Dr. Dydia DeLyser for being willing to adopt a student who lost her advisor while already in the middle of pursuing her degree. Her guidance in and out of the classroom has hopefully made me not only a better geographer and researcher, but a better writer as well. Her washer and dryer and cuddle-obsessed Lefty should be something all doctoral advisors provide to their students. I must also extend my thanks to dissertation committee members who have invested their time and concern in my advancement as an academic. Drs. Miles Richardson, Helen Regis, Charles Shindo, and Michael Grimes not only complement each other professionally, but all have supported me without question during what has been a very long process. I also thank the Robert West Grant Fund committee and their generous financial support of my research during two graduate degrees. While pursuing an advanced degree, we soon realize that without our informal mentors, we would also be lost. So for those such as Drs. Craig Colten iv and Jane Read I extend my deepest gratitude. I also thank my fellow weary graduate students and friends – Jennifer Speights-Binet, Rebecca Sheehan, Craig Revels, Sarah Hinman, Christopher Helm and Shannon Ascher – with whom I could always find a sympathetic ear and a critical reading eye whenever needed. I must also thank those who stood by (tolerated me) not only during my nine years as a graduate student, but throughout my life. Without your encouragement, I never would have made it this far. To my parents (all three of them) and grandmother, all I can say is a simple “Thank you” because any attempt to describe how grateful I am would be insufficient. I know that even though some of them have left this world, they continue to provide a source of support. Finally, I find myself tongue-tied in trying to adequately tell Eric Wersel how crucial he was to the completion of my dissertation and doctoral degree. He’s seen me at my ugliest and hasn’t run away like any reasonable person would have. He’s also brought out my best and unlike me, never doubted that I would make it to the end. And so, it is to him I dedicate this dissertation because it is the result of as much his work as mine. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...................................................................................iv LIST OF TABLES..............................................................................................viii LIST OF FIGURES...............................................................................................ix ABSTRACT...........................................................................................................x CHAPTER 1 STARTING WITH ONE VOICE...................................................1 Methods………..………………………………………..10 2 HISTORICAL REFLECTIONS...................................................24 From “Dustbowler” to “Okie”..........................................27 The Exodus.......................................................................37 The Lure of California......................................................43 3 THE MIGRANT IDENTITY.......................................................63 The Place of Identity........................................................65 Negotiating Identity through the Other............................70 Categories of Difference..................................................73 Practicing Identity............................................................82 Identities In-Between: Hybridity and Liminality............91 Research Implications......................................................93 4 OKIE ORIGINS: PART ONE.....................................................96 Origins of Exclusion.........................................................99 Domestic Migrant Exclusion..........................................111 Raising National Awareness...........................................117 5 OKIE ORIGINS: PART TWO..................................................129 Okies Respond................................................................131 Re-Placing Okie Identity................................................140 6 GAINING A PUBLIC VOICE...................................................161 Origins of an Audience...................................................163 Okie Voices in Academia...............................................177 A Growing Voice and Audience.....................................200 7 CONCLUSION...........................................................................216 REFERENCES...................................................................................................227 vi APPENDIX: CODING KEY….........................................................................249 VITA...................................................................................................................252 vii LIST OF TABLES 2.1. Distribution of States by Percent Change in the Number of Agricultural Workers 1870-1880 to 1940-1950...............................................................30 2.2 Five Largest State Contributors to the Migration Stream into California, 1935-1940....................................................................................................35 2.3 Population Increases, Selected Counties, 1935-1940..................................36 2.4 Western South Natives Living Outside the Region, 1910-1970.................38 2.5 Seasonal Labor Requirements and Demand for Migratory Workers in California Agriculture, 1935.......................................................................48 2.6 Wage Rates for Picking Thompson Seedless Grapes and for Cutting Asparagus in California, 1926-43, and Percentages Harvest Wage Rates are of Prices Received by Growers...................................................................51 2.7 Comparison of 1934 Average Cotton Production Between California, the “Okie States” and the United States............................................................57 2.8 Cotton Lint Production in Selected California Counties, 1929 and 1934...58 viii LIST OF FIGURES 2.1. Map displaying the migration origins of in-migrants to California from 1935-1940....................................................................................................33 2.2 Distribution of fruit production...............……………………....................45 2.3 Distribution of vegetable production........................……………………...46 2.4 Distribution of field crop production.........................……………………..47 4.1 Roadside settlement in a commercial pea district of Stanislaus County in the Central Valley, 1940..............................................................................97 4.2 One of the first published photographs by Dorothea Lange in the “Migrant Mother” series...........................................................................................118 4.3 Farm Security Administration Shafter Farm Labor Camp by Dorothea Lange.........................................................................................................120 6.1 Welcome sign to the “Dust Bowl Days” exhibition hall...........................204 6.2 “Dust Bowl Days” exhibition hall display of past times and places.........206 6.3 Dust Bowl Historical Foundation, Inc. display at “Dust Bowl Days” seeking donations for the