Idaho Farmworker Policy Research Project Collection

Idaho Farmworker Policy Research Project Collection, 1918-2006

Overview of the Collection

Title: Idaho Farmworker Policy Research Project Collection
Dates: 1918-2006 (inclusive)
19182006

1980-2000 (bulk)
19802006
Quantity: 2 linear feet, (2 boxes)
Collection Number: MSS 145
Summary: Oral histories and research materials relating to local, seasonal, and migrant farmworkers in Idaho. Collection is the result of coursework in Boise State University's Anthropology department in 1994 and 2000 under the direction of Professor Robert McCarl.
Repository: Boise State University Library, Special Collections and Archives
Special Collections and Archives
1910 University Drive
Boise ID
83725
Telephone: 2084263990
archives@boisestate.edu
Languages: English
Sponsor: Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided, in part, by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities

Historical NoteReturn to Top

Anthropology 430, Applied Anthropology: Idaho Farmworker Policy Research Project, Local, Seasonal, and Migrant Farmworkers was taught in the Spring of 1994 at Boise State University under the direction of Professor Robert McCarl and studied the controversy surrounding providing workers' compensation to seasonal workers. A similar course concerning migrant/temporary/seasonal workers was taught in 2000.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The Idaho Farmworker Policy Research Project Collection is the result of coursework in Boise State University's Anthropology Department in 1994 and 2000. The students recorded and transcribed oral histories of migrant workers. A large amount of related research material was also collected, some of which relates to a controversy regarding the farmworkers exemption in Idaho workers' compensation law and the controversy surrounding minimum wage for seasonal workers.

Forms part of the Ethnographic Archive of the Intermountain West.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Preferred Citation

[item description], Idaho Farmworker Policy Research Project Collection, Box [number] Folder [number], Boise State University Special Collections and Archives.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Acquisition Information

The collection was donated to Boise State University Special Collections and Archives by BSU professor Dr. Robert McCarl in May of 1995, June of 2007, and July of 2007.

Separated Materials

A new manuscript group, MSS 305 Applied Anthropology Video Collection, was created to house items in the Idaho Farmworkers collection that did not relate to Idaho farmworkers. Some newspaper articles were photocopied. Three books were separated and put into the library's circulating collection: The Effects of Migration on Children: An Ethnographic Study by Diaz, Trotter, and Rivera (Centro de Estudios Sobre La Migracion: 1990); Chapter 1 ECIA: Migrant Education : Harvest of Hope: [Idaho] State Plan 1994; and One-Third Of A Nation: A Report of the Commission on Minority Participation in Education and American Life (American Council of Education: 1988).

Related Materials

Ethnographic Video Collection

Life History Anthropology Project Collection

General Anthropology and Ethnography Collection

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Data and PublicationsReturn to Top

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box	Folder
1	1	1990 Census Data, Hispanic population of Idaho by county	1990
1	2-3	Agriculture in Idaho	1972-1997
1	4	Workers' compensation claims	1980-1991
1	5	Idaho Industrial Commission employers' compliance (workers' compensation)	1993 December 8
1	6	Crop input cost summary	1998
1	7	Farmworker survey (Idaho Legal Aid)	1999
1	8	Idaho's largest employers	2000 January
1	9	Legislative committee: farmworkers workers' compensation exemption, State of Idaho House Bill 610.	1994
1	10	"Maps of Pride" student project: county-by-county data and color-coded maps regarding Idaho's distributions of population, farm employees, number of farms, and crops.	1987-2000
1	11	Publications	1918-1993
1	12	State crop rankings	1992, 1997, 1998
1	13	Statistical profile of a model farm, indigent medical expenses by county	1993
1	14	Total farm employment by county (Idaho Department of Commerce)	1980-1996
1	15	"Idaho State Department of Education Evaluation of Programs for Limited English Proficient Students"	1992-1993
1	16	"Migrant Workers In Idaho" by Patricia Ourada	1980
1	17	"Preliminary Data on Public School Education for Children of Seasonal Farmworkers: Farmworker Resource Committee"	1993
1	18	"Report of the Task Force on Hispanic Education"	1993
1	19	"A Roof Over Our Heads: Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker Housing in Idaho" by Idaho Advisory Committee to the US Commission on Civil Rights	1980 September
1	20	Affordable housing articles: Caldwell, Idaho Labor Camp; Idaho Housing Coalition; Migrant Seasonal Farm Workers Survey; Homeless In Idaho; Hispanic demographics	1992-1994
1	21	"Fair Housing Alert" to mayors and chief building councils (Idaho Fair Housing Council)	1997 September 1
1	22	Idaho Housing Coalition factsheet	circa 1992
1	23	Newspaper articles	1993, 2000
1	24	Pamphlets	undated
1	25	"Tenants' Rights" (Idaho Legal Aid Services)	undated
1	26	Publications	1990-2000
1	27	Student research about the minimum wage debate, release forms and accompanying interviews, and a student paper.	2000
1	28	Idaho farmworker minimum wage debate	1999-2000
2	10	"America's Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers and their Quality of Life"	1992
2	11	Catalog of Applied Anthropology Projects for Dr. McCarl's Summer 2000 Idaho Farmworkers Minimum Wage course	2000
2	12	"Executive Order 93-07: Designation of the Farmworker Resource Committee As An Advisory Committee to the Governor"	1993
2	13	"Hispanics in Idaho: A Resource Guide" by Juan C. Chavarria	1991
2	14	House Bill 610, Workers' Compensation, Agricultural law and legislation, aerial spraying and dusting in agriculture, and pesticides	1994
2	15	Idaho Farmworker Policy Research Project Local, Seasonal and Migrant Farmworkers syllabus (Anthropology 430, Applied Anthropology)	1994
2	16	"Migrant Farmworkers In The United States: Briefings of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (Implementation of the Helsinki Accords)"	1993
2	17	Migrant seasonal farm worker survey	undated
2	18	"Notes on Archiving and Media Documentation: A Guide for Project Field Workers"	1994
2	19	"Snapshots in a Farm Labor Tradition" by University of California, Agreicultural Personnel Management Program	1993
2	20	Websites	1998-2000
2	21	"Where Work Is Hazardous To Your Health: A Survey of Occupational Injuries and Field Sanitation Among North Carolina Farmworkers"	1990
2	22	"Workers' Compensation Project Proposal" (South Carolina Brown Lung study)	1993
2	23	"Workers' Compensation: Time for Change? An Examination of [Idaho's] Agricultural Pursuits Exemption"	1993
2	24	"A Profile of Older Workers in Idaho"	2004 November
2	25	County Profiles of Idaho	1970--1997
2	26	Correspondence	1994
2	27	"Fabricante de Coronas" script accompanying an audio-visual presentation by Eva Castellanos, in Spanish	1987 June
2	28-30	Farmworker Resource Committee	1992-1994
2	31	Fiesta de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe (Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe), St. Mary's Parish Center, Boise	1998
2	32	"Fiesta Idaho," Lakeview Park, Nampa, Idaho	2000
2	33	Hispanic Folk Arts Survey Project (Idaho Commission on the Arts)	1989
2	34	Hispanic Heritage Report	1990
2	35	Hispanic Population in Idaho, Miscellaneous Publications	1990-2006
2	36	Idaho Commission on Hispanic Affairs	1996
2	37	"La Raza." Camilo Lopez and Terry Lopez of Caldwell, Idaho. "Culture vs. Culture, Hispanic and North American (Anglo) Cultures Contrasted."
2	38	Media file, miscellaneous newspaper clippings and publications regarding farmworker workers' compensation exemption
2	39	Newspaper clippings (continued)	1992-2001
2	40	Save the Farmworker / Salve el Campesino campaign button
2	41	"Special Occupational Review for DDT"	1978
2	42	"Workers' Compensation: Rights for All Workers : Benefits for All Farmers" brochure	1995
2		Worker's Compensation March, on S-VHS	1994
2		"Worker's Compensation: A Time for Change," raw footage, Dr. McCarl, on S-VHS	1995 January 17

Oral History InterviewsReturn to Top

Recordings and transcripts of interviews organized and recorded by students in Anthropology 430. Field interviews were conducted with farm workers and farm owners and topics included occupational injuries, health care, education, public services, housing, sanitation, daycare, ethnicity (in this case many workers were Hispanic), and government intervention.

Container(s)		Description	Dates
		Minimum Wage of Farmworkers Subseries includes four interviews regarding the migrant worker minimum wage controversy from the point of view of the small farm or family farm owner. Interviews also discuss other challenges facing the small farmer and the encroaching influence of corporations and large farms.	2000
Box	Folder
1	29	T. Davies, small farm owner	2000
1	30	T. Davies, small farm owner	2000
1	31	L. Gray, small farm owner	2000
1	32	T. Hughes, small farm owner	2000
1	33	T. Hughes, small farm owner	2000
2	1	K. Teramura, small farm owner	2000
2	2	K. Teramura, small farm owner	2000 May 10
		Farm Resource Committee	1994
Box	Folder
2	3	"Tape 2," O. Baen, M. Sepeta, A. Contreras, F. Moreno, and J. Magallon, migrant workers	1994
2	4	"Tape 2," O. Baen, M. Sepeta, A. Contreras, F. Moreno, and J. Magallon	1994
2	5	"Tape 3," G. Florez, R. Elizando, A. Florez, migrant workers	1994
2	6	"Tape 3," G. Florez, R. Elizando, A. Florez	1994
2	7	"Tape 4," M. Gloria, migrant worker	1994
2	8	"Tape 3," M. Gloria	1994
2	9	Administrative file	1993-1994

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

Education, Bilingual
Labor Camps
Latinos (United States)
Mexican Americans
Migrant Labor
Migrant agricultural laborers
Minimum wage
Seasonal Labor
Workers' Compensation

Corporate Names

Idaho Fair Housing Council

Form or Genre Terms

Oral histories

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