Proletarians of the north : a history of Mexican industrial workers in Detroit and the Midwest, 1917-1933 / Zaragosa Vargas.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Vargas, Zaragosa.

Series:

Latinos in American society and culture ; 1

Latin American Studies Center, UCLA

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mexican Americans--Employment--Middle West--History.

Mexican Americans.

Mexican Americans--Employment--Michigan--Detroit--History.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xv, 277 p. ) ill. ;

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, 1993.

Summary:

Between the end of World War I and the Great Depression, over 58,000 Mexicans journeyed to the Midwest in search of employment. Many found work in agriculture, but thousands more joined the growing ranks of the industrial proletariat. Throughout the northern Midwest, and especially in Detroit, Mexican workers entered steel mills, packing houses, and auto plants, becoming part of the modern American working class.Zaragosa Vargas's work focuses on this little-known feature in the history of Chicanos and American labor. In relating the experiences of Mexicans in workplace and neighborhood, and in showing the roles of Mexican women, the Catholic Church, and labor unions, Vargas enriches our knowledge of immigrant urban life. His is an important work that will be welcomed by historians of Chicano Studies and American labor.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

List of Maps, Graphs, and Tables

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Coming to Work in Detroit

1. Mexican Migration to the Midwest

2. Mexicans in Working-Class Detroit, 19181921

3. Mexicans and Factory Work in the 1920s

4. Life in the Mexican Colonies of the Midwest

5. Detroit Mexicans in the Great Depression

Conclusion: Reinterpreting the History of Mexican Industrial Workers

Notes

Bibliography

Index

ISBN:

0-520-92333-2

0-585-24986-5

OCLC:

1419790012