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Of Forests and Fields: Mexican Labor in the Pacific Northwest
2016 Choice Oustanding Academic Title
Just looking at the Pacific Northwest’s many verdant forests and fields, it may be hard to imagine the intense work it took to transform the region into the agricultural powerhouse it is today. Much of this labor was provided by Mexican guest workers, Tejano migrants, and undocumented immigrants, who converged on the region beginning in the mid-1940s. Of Forests and Fields tells the story of these workers, who toiled in the fields, canneries, packing sheds, and forests, turning the Pacific Northwest into one of the most productive agricultural regions in the country.
Employing an innovative approach that traces the intersections between Chicana/o labor and environmental history, Mario Sifuentez shows how ethnic Mexican workers responded to white communities that only welcomed them when they were economically useful, then quickly shunned them. He vividly renders the feelings of isolation and desperation that led to the formation of ethnic Mexican labor organizations like the Pineros y Campesinos Unidos Noroeste (PCUN) farm workers union, which fought back against discrimination and exploitation. Of Forests and Fields not only extends the scope of Mexican labor history beyond the Southwest, it offers valuable historical precedents for understanding the struggles of immigrant and migrant laborers in our own era.
Sifuentez supplements his extensive archival research with a unique set of first-hand interviews, offering new perspectives on events covered in the printed historical record. A descendent of ethnic Mexican immigrant laborers in Oregon, Sifuentez also poignantly demonstrates the links between the personal and political, as his research leads him to amazing discoveries about his own family history...
Just looking at the Pacific Northwest’s many verdant forests and fields, it may be hard to imagine the intense work it took to transform the region into the agricultural powerhouse it is today. Much of this labor was provided by Mexican guest workers, Tejano migrants, and undocumented immigrants, who converged on the region beginning in the mid-1940s. Of Forests and Fields tells the story of these workers, who toiled in the fields, canneries, packing sheds, and forests, turning the Pacific Northwest into one of the most productive agricultural regions in the country.
Employing an innovative approach that traces the intersections between Chicana/o labor and environmental history, Mario Sifuentez shows how ethnic Mexican workers responded to white communities that only welcomed them when they were economically useful, then quickly shunned them. He vividly renders the feelings of isolation and desperation that led to the formation of ethnic Mexican labor organizations like the Pineros y Campesinos Unidos Noroeste (PCUN) farm workers union, which fought back against discrimination and exploitation. Of Forests and Fields not only extends the scope of Mexican labor history beyond the Southwest, it offers valuable historical precedents for understanding the struggles of immigrant and migrant laborers in our own era.
Sifuentez supplements his extensive archival research with a unique set of first-hand interviews, offering new perspectives on events covered in the printed historical record. A descendent of ethnic Mexican immigrant laborers in Oregon, Sifuentez also poignantly demonstrates the links between the personal and political, as his research leads him to amazing discoveries about his own family history...
186 pages, Paperback
Published March 8, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 1, 2021
Using Oral History and other primary sources, Sifuentez provides a thorough examination of labor, immigrant, and organizing history in the Pacific Northwest. He provides a voice to the laborers that fed the US built wealth for growers. A must read for anyone studying labor or immigrant history in the Pacific Northwest.
February 1, 2021
Sifuentez studied under Matt Garcia, one of the most prominent historians in the Mexican labor and history fields. This book was exceptionally well researched, examining the cultural, social and labor aspects of the bracero program and subsequent Tejano migrations that fueled the farmworker industry and its exploitation and progress/expression of rights and dignity from WWII times until present.
August 7, 2017
Wow! What a brilliant piece on labor organizing and immigrant right advocacy! This is a must-read for Oregon history scholars, labor organizers, and immigrant rights advocates. Mr. Sifuentez did a masterful job.
December 4, 2020
Really pertains to Oregon. A revealing in depth history and study of farm and forest workers in Oregon from the bracero program during WWII to the present. Well done.
October 6, 2025
definitely a stronger first half than second half imo but still a very educating book and one i recommend!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews