“Harvest of Shame,” a CBS piece produced by Fred Friendly and Narrated by Edward Murrow, discussed the housing, education, pay, and general lifestyle of Migrant Workers in the south during the 1960’s. It also uncovers the dangers that migrant workers faced every day. This documentary, though criticized by some, was deemed “one of the finest documentaries in television history” by others.
“Harvest of Shame was a 1960 documentary program that broke new ground in television. It was meant to be a program that would shock Americans into action. The program follows Edward R. Murrow as he travels around the United States interviewing migrant workers and documenting their struggles. “Harvest of Shame” became one of the first television programs to accurately portray what it was like to live in poverty in the U.S.
The series was a continuation of Murrow’s ‘See it Now’, which often focused on hot topic issues. However, it was producers Fred W. Friendly and Edward P. Morgan that were the creative forces for the show. Friendly was ambitious and wanted to make the project successful, while Morgan was passionate about the issue and had spoken about it before.
The program has several haunting subjects. One such example is in the beginning when Jerome, a 9-year old migrant worker, takes care of his three infant sisters inside of a dilapidated shed. The camera shows a bed with holes in it and rats in the corners.
The program moves from Florida all the way up to New Jersey, showing various levels of comfort and conditions along the way.
Although Murrow and associates hoped for “Harvest of Shame” to have a monumental immediate impact. However, that was not the case. Substantial reform for migrant rights was denied in U.S. Congress just a few months later. Likely due to lobbying from the farm lobby.
At the end of the documentary, when the cycle starts all over again for migrants, Murrow calls the people to action with some chilling prose: “The Migrants have no lobby. Only enlightened, aroused and, perhaps, angered public opinion can do anything about the migrants. The people you have seen have the strength to harvest your fruit and vegetables. They do not have the strength to influence legislation. Maybe, we do. Good night and good luck.”
Harvest of Shame POWERPOINT
ARTICLES
In the article Health Status of children of Migrant farm workers: Farm work family Health program, Moultrie, Georgia its speaks on how most, more than half, of the migrant workers are actually below the poverty line. Migrant workers are exposed to many hazards in the work force, such as physical labor, illness from pesticides and sickness from weather conditions. With most migrant’s workers born from other countries aren’t able to get medical treatment that needed and the migrant workers that were born here are too poor to go get any.
The reading, “International Migration Review,” is actually a book review on Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies: Migrant Farm Workers in the United States by Seth M. Holmes. Holmes’ book is and ethnographic study on Triqui migrants from Oaxaca, Mexico. Most of these immigrants moved to California or Washington to work in the fields. This article tries to bring to light the political, economic, and racial hierarchies that shaped the lives of migrant workers across the United States.
Interviews with Migrant Farm Workers in Connecticut
Jennifer Cook was granted a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) and worked as a volunteer translator for a mobile health clinic that provides free services to agricultural workers at the University of Connecticut’s Migrant Farm Worker Clinic (MFWC). In this article, she discusses the interviews she had with two Mexican workers, one of which told her that he had to quit school in order to help his family, two Jamaican workers, one of which told her that he couldn’t say anything about the problems they face at work in fear of not being rehired, and a Puerto Rican who feels as if it is his duty as an American citizen to protect the rights of his fellow Puerto Rican workers who get paid less because they are undocumented. Cook also discusses the importance that migrant farm workers have and the social injustices they are handed.
INTERVIEW WITH JANIE RODRIGUEZ
Janie Rodriguez, of Napoleon, is a migrant farm owner who used to be a migrant worker with her family as a child. Janie’s farm is also located in Napoleon. She was born in Texas and moved to Ohio with her family after moving around in search of work.
In part one, Janie discusses her childhood background as a migrant worker with her family. She talks about moving from Texas to Ohio and the decision her family made to settle down here.
In part two, Janie discusses her decision to marry young and quit school in order to take care of her children. She talks about how she later went back and got her GED.
In part three, Janie discusses one of the camps she lived in as a child. She says “I didn’t think they were bad because my family was there and that was all that I needed to be happy.”
