Episode 22 - Americans All/Americanos Todos

"Americans All - Let's Fight for Victory"
1942-1945
(see citation below)

 

Welcome to the supplemental post for Episode 22. In this episode I discuss the Bracero Program or what was officially known as the Mexican Farm Labor Program. This was an agreement between the Mexican and United States government that allowed Mexican agricultural and railroad workers into the U.S. for short term work contracts during WWII. This program ran from 1942-1964.

The first Braceros arriving in Los Angeles by
train in 1942
wikimedia commons 

Photograph of Mexican Laborers
see citation below

Braceros Listening to Radio
see citation below

Braceros in Living Quarter
see citation below

Serving Braceros a Meal
see citation below

Serving Braceros a Meal
see citation below

The cookbook feature for this episode is Elena's Famous Mexican and Spanish Recipes published in 1944 by Elena Zelayeta.

By Elena Zelayeta, 1944

 

The first recipe I tried was a suggested pineapple dessert using Leche Quemada. I used the shortcut she recommends of boiling a can of sweetened condensed milk for 3 hours to caramelize it. It makes a delicious, thick caramel pudding! (To see some modern tips for making what we now call dulce de leche you can read this recipe HERE!)

The second recipe I tried was for Torta Azteca - casserole Aztec style. This consisted of eight layers of lightly fried tortillas with chorizo, sliced boiled egg, Monterey cheese, and a simmered tomato sauce with herbs in between. Then you bake it to melt everything together. To serve, you slice it like a cake and serve with refried beans. It was quite delicious! 

Torta Azteca

RESOURCES

** A special thank you to Ximena Martin for sharing some of her wonderful research resources with me!

Websites:

Bracero History Archive

http://braceroarchive.org/about

The Bracero Program

The Digital Public Library of America

Franky Abbott, Hillary Brady. Mexican Labor and World War II: The Bracero Program. 2015. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/mexican-labor-and-world-war-ii-the-bracero-program . (Accessed September 21, 2021.)

Bracero Oral History Project

Institute of Oral History, College of Liberal Arts, University of Texas at El Paso

https://www.utep.edu/liberalarts/oral-history/

https://scholarworks.utep.edu/bracero/

National Hispanic Heritage Month

https://www.hispanicheritagemonth.gov/about/

NPR Article about the history behind why we call September 15-October 15 National Hispanic Heritage Month

https://www.npr.org/2021/09/17/1037741009/yes-were-calling-it-hispanic-heritage-month-and-we-know-it-makes-some-of-you-cri

Smithsonian Office of Educational Technology (search “Bracero”)

https://learninglab.si.edu/about/Smithsonian-Office-of-Educational-Technology

Bracero Program

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bracero_program

Making Dulce de Leche

https://www.seriouseats.com/dulce-de-leche-recipe

Images:

Mexican Farm Workers Who have been Accepted for Farm Labor in the U.S. through the Braceros Program. Department of Agriculture, National Archives, 1942.

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7452192

Photograph of Mexican Laborers

Department of Agriculture, National Archives, date unknown.

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/596405

“Americans All - Let’s Fight for Victory”, Office of War Information. National Archives, 1942-1945.

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/513803

National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution. “Smithsonian Learning Lab Resource: Serving Braceros a Meal.” Smithsonian Learning Lab, Smithsonian Center for Learning and Digital Access, 2 Nov. 2015, https://learninglab.si.edu/q/r/130428

National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution. “Smithsonian Learning Lab Resource: Serving Braceros a Meal.” Smithsonian Learning Lab, Smithsonian Center for Learning and Digital Access, 2 Nov. 2015, https://learninglab.si.edu/q/r/126801

National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution. “Smithsonian Learning Lab Resource: Braceros in Living Quarter.” Smithsonian Learning Lab, Smithsonian Center for Learning and Digital Access, 1 Nov. 2015, https://learninglab.si.edu/q/r/85409

National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution. “Smithsonian Learning Lab Resource: Bracero Camp.” Smithsonian Learning Lab, Smithsonian Center for Learning and Digital Access, 31 Oct. 2015, https://learninglab.si.edu/q/r/70237

National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution. “Smithsonian Learning Lab Resource: Braceros Listening to Radio.” Smithsonian Learning Lab, Smithsonian Center for Learning and Digital Access, 2 Nov. 2015, https://learninglab.si.edu/q/r/122125

The first Braceros arriving in Los Angeles by train in 1942, Oakland Museum of California, Wikimedia Commons.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BraceroProgram.jpg

Books:

The Bracero Program: A Historical Investigation (educational workbook with primary source materials)

https://americanhistory.si.edu/sites/default/files/Bracero%20Historical%20Investigation.pdf

Mexican Labor & World War II: Braceros in the Pacific Northwest, 1942-1947 by Erasmo Gamboa

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/029597849X/

Defiant Braceros: How Migrant Workers Fought for Racial, Sexual, and Political Freedom by Mireya Loza

https://www.amazon.com/Defiant-Braceros-Migrant-Political-Borderlands/dp/1469629763/