| Description |
Previous research on migrant labor in Utah has focused on the period before or during World War IT. While one statistical study exists of the period from 1945 to 1965, it fails to put the experiences of migrant laborers in Utah into a national context. My essay, in exploring Utah's postwar experiences with migrant labor, shows Utah's social and economic status in the postwar period. Early Mormon pioneers to the region developed Utah agriculture in the nineteenth century. Starting with subsistence farming, Utahns moved slowly into commercial farming of some crops, most importantly sugar beets. Despite efforts to modernize and commercialize Utah agriculture, it remained technologically behind the rest of the nation until after World War IT. In other regions of the western United States, growing Mexican-American communities often served as hired agricultural workers, but Utah's Mexican-American community developed largely outside of an agricultural context. Utah's agricultural patterns changed during World War IT, when migrant workers first became necessary. As with the rest of the United States, severe labor shortages forced the federal government to find a permanent source of cheap agricultural labor. Through the Bracero Program, U.S. farmers in many parts of the country imported cheap Mexican labor. The Bracero Program, originally intended to serve only as a wartime measure, became a postwar institution as well. Utah never used as many Bracero or migrant workers as other parts of the country. Its agricultural output was significantly smaller than other states, farmers had difficulty transporting workers from border reception centers, and many workers chose not to come to Utah because of poor housing conditions. In addition, agricultural mechanization eased the labor shortage. Despite the relatively small numbers of braceros and migrant workers in Utah, most Utahns supported the Bracero Program. Utah's Senators and Representatives, even those personally opposed to the use of migrant workers, never voted against the extension or amplification of the Bracero Program. Local farmers also actively supported the program. Utah is a place that struggled to achieve a modern identity while maintaining the agricultural basis that helped the state survive in its inception. Migrant labor in the postwar period is an important link between these two identities. |
