This month, we present an excerpt from the oral history interview with Yolanda Barrera, an active member of the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) in the 1960s. Yolanda resided in Porterville at that time, and her family played a crucial role in the movement. We also share a video filmed by Brandon Lien of our visit to Delano, guided by Roger Gadiano and Alex Edillor from the Filipino American National Historical Society's Delano Chapter.
Yolanda Barrera’s visit to the Bradley Center
By Marta Valier
Yolanda Barrera, a former secretary for the Farm Workers Organization (FWO) of Porterville, shared her story with our team at the Bradley Center. The FWO was an organization founded by her father, Jesús Marín Barrera, which later joined the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA). The Barrera family migrated to Porterville from Mission, Texas, in 1961 in search of work and participated in the Delano strike of 1965. They worked in the fields during the week and drove to Delano on the weekends to deliver money, food, and clothes that they collected for the strikers. Yolanda, her parents, and her three siblings, Marín, Annie, and Mario, fundraised for the strikers and were regulars on the picket line during the grape boycott. During the march to Sacramento in 1966, Jesús Marín Barrera welcomed the marchers to Porterville and joined them on their journey to Sacramento. Along the road, he played the accordion while Yolanda’s uncles played the guitar and drums. In Delano, Yolanda attended the Friday night meetings at Filipino Hall, and in 1967 she served as a translator for the NFWA’s union meetings. Yolanda served in various leadership roles and later pursued a legal career, becoming an attorney and achieving significant milestones, including arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court. Her oral history will be part of our Oral Histories Collection, you can listen to a soundbite here, where she talks about the FWO and meeting César Chávez for the first time.
Last January, José Luis Benavides, Brandon Lien, and Marta Valier went to Delano for a guided tour of Filipino American Delano. Our guides were Roger Gadiano and Alex Edillor, members of the Filipino American National Historical Society/Delano Chapter. Delano, 125 miles north of Northridge holds historical significance as the birthplace of the Farmworker Movement. It was the starting point for the 1965 grape strike and subsequent march to Sacramento in 1966. During our tour, we visited landmarks tied to the movement. Filipino Hall, once a community center, that hosted strikers and their meetings, is today an elderly daycare, while Tortilleria Azteca, once the home of Teatro Campesino and the first union hiring hall, and now a corner store. Our guides also took us to Forty Acres and the Agbayani Village, visiting the rooms where César Chávez undertook fasting protests against violence. We concluded our day visiting the cemetery, Larry Itliong's resting place, which lacks the deserved acknowledgment for his significant contributions. Lien filmed our tour and you can watch a short video on our YouTube channel.
Edillor and Gadiano's assistance was invaluable in identifying individuals and places in our collection. They successfully identified a boy named Virgilio Cabañas in a photo next to Robert F. Kennedy, taken by John Kouns. Virgilio came from a family involved in the farmworker movement, and he helped us identify Tina Guzman and Eugene "Gene" Dahlig, two other children in the photo who also had ties to the movement. This information is relevant as farmworkers' families were integral to the movement. The photo was taken during the senator's visit to Delano in March 1966 for the U.S. Subcommittee on Migratory Labor's hearings, which garnered national support for César Chávez and the National Farmworkers Association (NFWA). On the same day, Chávez announced the march to Sacramento, demanding union recognition from the growers. As a result, major growers agreed to hold elections and negotiate with the farmworkers.
Edillor and Gadiano also assisted us in identifying a location in a set of photos featuring Larry Itliong, William Kircher, and César Chávez presenting the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee (UFWOC) to farmworkers and their families, which took place at the Pius X Youth Hall, part of the Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Delano. The UFWOC was formed in August 1966 through the merger of the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) and the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC). Chávez became the director and Itliong the assistant director.
You can learn more about the visual record of the Filipino American presence in Delano onour library website, where you can find more photographs of Larry Itliong, Philip Vera Cruz, and the farmworkers striking, picketing, or volunteering to support the strikers.
A visit to Delano, and one from Porterville.
A visit to Delano, and one from Porterville.
A visit to Delano, and one from Porterville.
This month, we present an excerpt from the oral history interview with Yolanda Barrera, an active member of the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) in the 1960s. Yolanda resided in Porterville at that time, and her family played a crucial role in the movement. We also share a video filmed by Brandon Lien of our visit to Delano, guided by Roger Gadiano and Alex Edillor from the Filipino American National Historical Society's Delano Chapter.
Yolanda Barrera’s visit to the Bradley Center
By Marta Valier
Yolanda Barrera, a former secretary for the Farm Workers Organization (FWO) of Porterville, shared her story with our team at the Bradley Center. The FWO was an organization founded by her father, Jesús Marín Barrera, which later joined the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA). The Barrera family migrated to Porterville from Mission, Texas, in 1961 in search of work and participated in the Delano strike of 1965. They worked in the fields during the week and drove to Delano on the weekends to deliver money, food, and clothes that they collected for the strikers. Yolanda, her parents, and her three siblings, Marín, Annie, and Mario, fundraised for the strikers and were regulars on the picket line during the grape boycott. During the march to Sacramento in 1966, Jesús Marín Barrera welcomed the marchers to Porterville and joined them on their journey to Sacramento. Along the road, he played the accordion while Yolanda’s uncles played the guitar and drums. In Delano, Yolanda attended the Friday night meetings at Filipino Hall, and in 1967 she served as a translator for the NFWA’s union meetings. Yolanda served in various leadership roles and later pursued a legal career, becoming an attorney and achieving significant milestones, including arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court. Her oral history will be part of our Oral Histories Collection, you can listen to a soundbite here, where she talks about the FWO and meeting César Chávez for the first time.
Farmworker Movement Collection
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Visiting Filipino American Delano
By Marta Valier
Last January, José Luis Benavides, Brandon Lien, and Marta Valier went to Delano for a guided tour of Filipino American Delano. Our guides were Roger Gadiano and Alex Edillor, members of the Filipino American National Historical Society/Delano Chapter. Delano, 125 miles north of Northridge holds historical significance as the birthplace of the Farmworker Movement. It was the starting point for the 1965 grape strike and subsequent march to Sacramento in 1966. During our tour, we visited landmarks tied to the movement. Filipino Hall, once a community center, that hosted strikers and their meetings, is today an elderly daycare, while Tortilleria Azteca, once the home of Teatro Campesino and the first union hiring hall, and now a corner store. Our guides also took us to Forty Acres and the Agbayani Village, visiting the rooms where César Chávez undertook fasting protests against violence. We concluded our day visiting the cemetery, Larry Itliong's resting place, which lacks the deserved acknowledgment for his significant contributions. Lien filmed our tour and you can watch a short video on our YouTube channel.
Edillor and Gadiano's assistance was invaluable in identifying individuals and places in our collection. They successfully identified a boy named Virgilio Cabañas in a photo next to Robert F. Kennedy, taken by John Kouns. Virgilio came from a family involved in the farmworker movement, and he helped us identify Tina Guzman and Eugene "Gene" Dahlig, two other children in the photo who also had ties to the movement. This information is relevant as farmworkers' families were integral to the movement. The photo was taken during the senator's visit to Delano in March 1966 for the U.S. Subcommittee on Migratory Labor's hearings, which garnered national support for César Chávez and the National Farmworkers Association (NFWA). On the same day, Chávez announced the march to Sacramento, demanding union recognition from the growers. As a result, major growers agreed to hold elections and negotiate with the farmworkers.
Edillor and Gadiano also assisted us in identifying a location in a set of photos featuring Larry Itliong, William Kircher, and César Chávez presenting the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee (UFWOC) to farmworkers and their families, which took place at the Pius X Youth Hall, part of the Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Delano. The UFWOC was formed in August 1966 through the merger of the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) and the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC). Chávez became the director and Itliong the assistant director.
Farmworker Movement Collection
You can learn more about the visual record of the Filipino American presence in Delano on our library website, where you can find more photographs of Larry Itliong, Philip Vera Cruz, and the farmworkers striking, picketing, or volunteering to support the strikers.
GIVE TO THE BRADLEY CENTER
GIVE TO THE BRADLEY CENTER