Oceana County Migrant Labor History Collection
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.
Grafting plants, 1978
Photo of Lupe Vasquez (left) and a relative working to graft plants at Willow Drive Nursery, Ephrata, Washington.
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 Lupe Vasquez (right) with two of her children. Children are the younger sister and brother of Fidencio, Jr.
Lupe Vasquez, August 1966
Photo of Lupe Vasquez, taken shortly after the family's move into their new house on State Street in Hart, Michigan.
Baptism, 1988
Lupe Vasquez participating in the baptism of a newborn at St. Gregory's church in Hart, Michigan. Father Pedro is pictured at far left.
Francisco Vasquez picking apples, 1978
Francisco Vasquez in Traverse City, Michigan. Pictured during apple season in one of the fields where he worked.
Vasquez Family picking apples, 1987
Vasquez Family picking apples at Golden Hart Farms in Hart, Michigan. Pictures from left to right are Eloisa's younger sister, Francisco Vasquez, and Zandra Vasquez (background, red jacket).
Francisco Vasquez and daughter, asparagus season, May 1985
Francisco Vasquez with his younger daughter riding on a tractor in an asparagus field at Golden Hart Farms in Hart, Michigan.
Francisco Vasquez, picking pickles (cucumbers), 1984
Francisco Vasquez at Golden Hart Farms in Hart, Michigan picking pickling cucumbers.
Francisco and Zandra Vasquez, picking apples, November 1987
Francisco and Zandra Vasquez picking apples at Golden Hart Farms in Hart, Michigan.
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