BITTERSWEET HARVEST: THE BRACERO PROGRAM, 1942-1964 + "THIS KIND OF LOVE, OUR LOVE": LATINO STORIES IN THE BLACKSTONE VALLEY, 1960s-TODAY

Bittersweet Harvest: The Bracero Program, 1942-1964 + "This Kind of Love, Our Love": Latino Stories in the Blackstone Valley, 1960s-Today, Museum of Work & Culture, Woonsocket, RI, June 10-September 24, 2022.

The Museum of Work & Culture, a division of the Rhode Island Historical Society and Smithsonian Affiliate, presents Bittersweet Harvest: The Bracero Program, 1942-1964, a bilingual poster exhibit from the Smithsonian Institution with images and interviews by documentary photographer Leonard Nadel. The exhibit will open on Friday, June 10, and will remain in the changing gallery through September 24. 

Facing labor shortages on the home front during World War II, the United States initiated a series of agreements with Mexico to recruit guest workers for American farms and railroads. The Emergency Farm Labor Program, more familiarly known as the Bracero Program, enabled approximately 2 million Mexicans to enter the United States. While the work was often grueling, the program offered participants economic opportunity. The contributions made by these laborers have had a significant impact on the political, economic, and social climate of both the United States and Mexico. Also on display at the Museum will be panels that present stories of how the Bracero Program made its way to Rhode Island. 

Complimenting the Smithsonian poster exhibit, the Museum, in partnership with Rhode Island Latino Arts, presents "This Kind of Love, Our Love": Latino Stories in the Blackstone Valley, 1960s-Today. This Kind of Love continues the themes of “Bittersweet Harvest” locally, presenting the history of Latino settlement and community-building over the past half-century in Rhode Island’s Blackstone Valley region, from Central Falls to Woonsocket. Historical artifacts, an art installation, and collected oral histories will complement the informational posters, making these stories come alive.

Programs for these exhibitions included two story-collecting sessions, one on June 25th (at VIDA Church) and another on August 13th (at the Museum). These sessions collected a total of ten stories, which are being transcribed by the RI Latino Oral History Project (see below). An opening reception took place on July 6th, and included about 25 participants. The other program for these exhibitions was a Labor Day Panel on September 3rd on Latino Labor History in Rhode Island, featuring Marta Martínez of Rhode Island Latino Arts, Patrick Crowley of the RI AFL-CIO, URI Emeritus Professor Scott Malloy, Heiny Maldonado of Fuerza Laboral, and Mario Bueno of Progreso Latino, as well as the inaugural Spanish-language tour of the Museum led by Woonsocket City Councilmember Valerie Gonzalez. 

All bespoke Museum of Work & Culture panels can be found here. Spanish translations by Irene Yibirin and Valerie Gonzalez, edited by Marta V. Martínez.

    Excerpt from This Kind of Love, Our Love panel text:

While the [Rhode Island] Braceros came and left in the 1940s, Rhode Island's rich history of Latino immigration didn't end there. Indeed, the state as a whole became a hub for immigrants from countries such as Mexico, Colombia, Cuba, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic, as well as Puerto Rican nationals, throughout the twentieth century. This migration, and the subsequent communities and enclaves that have made their marks on the state, continues to this day: as of 2020, Rhode Island had the twelfth-highest Latino population out of all fifty states. Organizations like Rhode Island Latino Arts, through its Nuestras Raíces Latino History project, keep this history accessible, collecting oral histories and archival materials and adding threads to this growing tapestry. 

The Museum of Work & Culture primarily tells the story of French-Canadian immigrants who came to work in Woonsocket, creating a vital and productive textile industry. The Blackstone Valley as a whole has also historically been home to textile mills powered by the Blackstone River. However, over the twentieth century, many textile companies either moved their businesses to other regions of the United States, to other countries, or shut down entirely. The mills that did remain in business during the 1960s kept the lights on by hiring skilled workers from Colombia. These immigrants, their families, and successive generations of Colombians have largely made their home in the Blackstone Valley city of Central Falls, about ten miles south of Woonsocket.

"This Kind of Love, Our Love:" Latino Stories in the Blackstone Valley, 1960s-Today cannot hope to encompass the variety and reach of the whole state's history. Instead, this exhibition complements the Museum's focus on labor, and the earlier national and local history of the Bracero Program, by tracing Latino history and communities in the Blackstone Valley. In partnership with Rhode Island Latino Arts, "This Kind of Love, Our Love" begins with the Colombian workers in Central Falls who kept the region's textile production alive in the mid-century, and continues through to the present day, where Latino voters wield true political power in the state. "This Kind of Love, Our Love" also presents snapshots of today's Spanish-speaking communities in Woonsocket.

Press:

Vivian Trutzl, "Exhibit collects oral histories, tells local Latino stories," Valley Breeze, June 23, 2022.

Joe Nadeau, "Museum of Work & Culture Opens Latino Exhibit," Woonsocket Call, July 4, 2022. View the article here.

Lauren Clem, "These World War II-Era Bracero Workers Had a Hand in Rhode Island’s Railroad Industry," Rhode Island Monthly, July 19, 2022.

James Baumgartner, "New exhibit highlights stories of Latino communities in Rhode Island," The Public's Radio, August 10, 2022 (aired on August 11).

Katarina Dulude, "Bridging Gaps in History: Oral histories of local Latino communities add depth to a poster exhibit on view in Woonsocket." Hey Rhody, September 2022 Fall issue.

Woonsocket Oral Histories collected during this exhibition can be found here and are continually being updated by Nuestras Raíces. 

“Bittersweet Harvest: The Bracero Program, 1942-1964” was organized by the National Museum of American History in partnership with the SITES, and received federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. Rhode Island Latino Arts is Rhode Island’s leading nonprofit organization exclusively dedicated to the promotion, advancement, development and cultivation of Latino arts. Funding provided in part by a grant from the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities, through the Rhode Island Culture, Humanities, and Arts Recovery Grant (RI CHARG) program. This program was made possible thanks to the National Endowment for the Humanities, via funds from the federal American Rescue Plan Act.