CSUCI Holds Second Town Hall Meeting for Bracero Oral Histories Project, April 28

Camarillo, Calif., Apr. 21, 2009 — The Centers for Community Engagement and Multicultural Engagement, and the Chicana/o Studies and History programs invite former braceros, their families, and community members with past associations with braceros to a town hall meeting Tuesday, April 28 from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at Santa Paula High School, 404 N. 6th St., Santa Paula.

Attendees will learn about the CSU Channel Islands Bracero Project and can share their stories and experiences as well as showcase objects, including hand tools used during that time, clothing, photographs and documents, such as contracts, identification cards and letters. Included in this event will be a presentation about the Chicana/o Studies program offered at CSUCI and the program's involvement in the bracero oral history project.

This will be CSUCI's second community town hall meeting, and will feature speaker Dr. Jose Alamillo, Ventura County native and author of Making Lemonade out of Lemons: Mexican Labor and Leisure in a California Town, 1900-1960. Alamillo who is the Coordinator of Chicana/o Studies at CSUCI, has published accounts of Mexican immigrants and Mexican American labor in the United States.

To date, CSUCI students in Chicana/o Studies 292 have collected 32 oral histories and they will collect an additional 6 stories this spring. Many of these stories are from former braceros and their wives. CSUCI will continue its collection of these important stories, contributing them to both the Smithsonian's collection and our own local archive.

“This project aims to capture the history and stories of the bracero program in order to recognize and educate students and community members about this important chapter in American history.

In doing so we hope to give voice to this time period, while preserving and celebrating the legacy of these hardworking individuals who gave so much in helping grow and shape the economy of the United States,” said Alamillo.

Many Mexican workers came through the bracero program in Ventura County. These guest workers were hired because of the labor shortage in the agriculture industry created by World War II. At the end of their contracts, some of those who participated in the bracero program remained while others returned to Mexico and later immigrated to the U.S.

For more information about the town hall meeting or Bracero Project, contact Pilar Pacheco, Assistant Director of the Center for Community Engagement at (805) 437-8851 or pilar.pacheco@csuci.edu.

For media inquiries contact Nancy Covarrubias Gill, Director of Communication & Marketing at CSUCI, (805) 437-8456 or nancy.gill@csuci.edu.

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CSU Channel Islands is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

CSUCI Mission Statement
Placing students at the center of the educational experience, California State University Channel Islands provides undergraduate and graduate education that facilitates learning within and across disciplines through integrative approaches, emphasizes experiential and service learning, and graduates students with multicultural and international perspectives.