Oceana County Migrant Labor History Collection

Cotton family, circa 1950

Photograph of the Cotton Family. Family picked cherries for many years.
Griffin family, circa 1950

Photograph of the Griffin Family. Family picked cherries for many years.
Jamaican field workers, circa 1950

Photograph of male workers on family farm. Workers are from Jamaica.
Delivering apples to processor, circa 1950

Photograph of Esther Moul's father delivering apples to be processed.
U.S. Crop Corps Certificate of Service

U.S. Crop Corps Certificate of Service issued to Esther Gilliland, June 1, 1943, "for patriotic service on a farm or in a food processing factory." Signed by U.S. War Food Administrator, Chairman of the War Manpower Commission, and State Director of…
Field Family Farmhouse, Shelby, Michigan, circa 1900

Photo of Field Family Farmhouse accompanied story in local paper "Success Without a Mortgage" (image Peterson_Marge-005.jpg). House was built in 1899 by Marge Peterson's great grandfather, S. O. Field. Field migrated from Norway to Chicago before…
Anton and Abba Field preparing for trip to Mexico City

Photo of Anton (right) and Abba (left) Field preparing to leave for a trip to Mexico City. (Anton's father was S. O. Field.) A sweet cherry tree is pictured in the background. A copy of their travel journal from that trip was also donated and scanned…
Homestead Certificate, 1869

Certificate from General Land Office of the United States of America at Ionia, Michigan for Wiliam H. Beebe, certifying that a homestead "has been established and daily consummated in conformity to the law for the east half of the south-east quarter…
Lupe Vasquez and her godmother

Photo of Fidencio Vasquez, Jr.'s mother, Lupe Vasquez (left), with her godmother.
Fidencio and Lupe Vasquez on their wedding day, 1947

Photo of Fidencio and Lupe Vasquez on their wedding day.
Vasquez family trip to Mexico, 1971

Photo of Vasquez family trip to Mexico. Pictured are Fidencio, Jr. with his two brothers, sister, parents (Fidencio and Lupe Vasquez), and a cousin.
Fidencio and Lupe Vasquez on their wedding day, 1947

Photo of Fidencio and Lupe Vasquez on their wedding day.

Browse All Items in Oceana County Migrant Labor History Collection

Title

Oceana County Migrant Labor History Collection

Creator

Shell-Weiss, Melanie

Contributor

El Centro Hispano de Oceana; Oceana County Historical and Genealogical Society

Description

Collection contains images and documents digitized and collected through the project "Growing Community: A Century of Migration in Oceana County." This project was a collaboration between El Centro Hispano de Oceana, the Oceana County Historical and Genealogical Society, and Grand Valley State University funded by a Common Heritage grant from the United States National Endowment for the Humanities. The materials in this collection document the history of communities in Hart, Shelby, and Walkerville and explore themes of migration, labor, religion, family, belonging, national and cultural identities, regional, national, and international connections, and citizenship.

Coverage

Oceana County (Mich.)

Date

2016

Source

Grand Valley State University. Kutsche Office of Local History

Subject

Oceana County (Mich.)
Hart (Mich.)
Shelby (Mich.)
Farms
Farmers
Migrant agricultural laborers
Hispanic Americans
Account books
Diaries
Oral history

Publisher

Grand Valley State University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives

Relation

Growing Community (NEH Common Heritage project)

Identifier

DC-06

Format

application/pdf
image/jpeg
audio/mp3

Type

Text
Image
Sound recording

Language

eng
spa