Browse Items · Bracero History Archive

Braceros pick lettuce in a Californian field.

Portrait of a bracero standing on a truck full of Cookie Head lettuce boxes in a Californian field.

Portrait of a bracero standing on a truck full of Cookie Head lettuce boxes in a Californian field.

Braceros fill lettuce in Cookie Head lettuce boxes and pile them on a truck in a Californian field.

A bracero picks lettuce while an official is watching him in a field in the Salinas Valley, California.

Braceros pick lettuce in a field in the Salinas Valley, California.

Braceros fill lettuce into Cookie Head lettuce boxes and close them in a field in the Salinas Valley, California.

Braceros fill lettuce into Cookie Head lettuce boxes and close them in a field in the Salinas Valley, California.

A bracero carries a full Cookie Head lettuce box on a trolley in a field in the Salinas Valley, California.

After a long journey to the border, braceros walk across the bridge between Reynosa, Mexico and Hidalgo, Texas.

After a long journey to the border, braceros walk across the bridge between Reynosa, Mexico and Hidalgo, Texas. In the United States, braceros went through health inspections and processing, and then boarded buses and trailer trucks to begin work in…

Braceros walk over the bridge to Hidalgo, Texas coming from Reynosa, Nuevo Leﾗn and cross the border between Mexico and United States.

Braceros were fumigated with DDT while others stand in line at the Hidalgo Processing Center, Texas.

Braceros were fumigated with DDT while others stand in line at the Hidalgo Processing Center, Texas.

Braceros were fumigated with DDT while others stand in line at the Hidalgo Processing Center, Texas.

Braceros wait to be processed at the Hidalgo Processing Center, Texas.

Braceros board a truck at the Hidalgo Processing Center, Texas.

Braceros sit in a truck and wait to leave the Hidalgo Processing Center, Texas.

Braceros sit in a truck and wait to leave the Hidalgo Processing Center, Texas.

Braceros sit in a truck and wait to leave the Hidalgo Processing Center, Texas.

Officials take fingerprints from braceros while others wait in line to be processed at the Hidalgo Processing Center, Texas.

A bracero closes a full Toro lettuce box with a special tool in a field in the Salinas Valley, California.

Sebastián Martínez

Biographical Synopsis of Interviewee: Sebastián Martínez was born on November 16, 1938, in Saragosa, Texas; as a child he and his family moved to Pecos, Texas; during the fifties, when he was roughly fourteen or fifteen years old, he began working…

Héctor Ponce

Biographical Synopsis of Interviewee: Héctor Ponce was born on April 1, 1933, in Valle de Zaragoza, Chihuahua, México; both of his parents worked in agriculture; he was formally educated through the fifth grade; sometime later, he traveled to…