La Lucha: A History of Hispanic Migrant Farm Workers

On August 4,1942, the United States and Mexico signed an agreement which contracted Mexican laborers to work on American farms in the north and southwest. The American government initially designed this project, known as the Bracero Program, to aid the war effort during World War II and fill gaps in the workforce, but it continued for decades and formally ended in 1964. American farmers employed more than two million Mexican laborers during this time, drawing a massive migration of workers from northern and central Mexico to the southwestern border of the United States. The two images on this page were taken by the famous American photographer, Dorothea Lange, in the mid 1930s on a project commissioned by the Farm Security Administration. The project sought to document the lives of these migrant workers and Lange used it as an opportunity to advocate for their rights. After witnessing some of the brutal conditions they worked in, Lange became a supporter of migrant workers and captured their humanity in an effort to engage other Americans in their struggles.