Screening of ‘Harvest of Loneliness, the Bracero Program’ Set for January 23

Under the Bracero program, from 1942 to 1964, several million men were imported to the United States to work in the fields in one of the largest state-managed migrations in history. They were to fill an alleged wartime labor shortage.

The documentary film “Harvest of Loneliness, the Bracero Program” tells the story of the men who came to the U.S. and their wives and families who were left behind in Mexico. It will be shown Wednesday, January 23 at 7 p.m. at the Kresge Town Hall on the UC Santa Cruz campus. The showing is free and open to the public.

One of the filmmakers, Gilbert Gonzalez, a professor emeritus of Chicano/Latino studies at UC Irvine, will lead a discussion of the film and the Bracero program afterward, along with a question and answer session. A reception will follow.

The showing is sponsored by the UC Humanities Working Group on Immigrant Labor and Changing Conceptions of Work, the UCSC Center for Labor Studies, the UCSC Latin American and Latino Studies Department, Kresge College, the UCSC History Department, and El Centro: Chicana/o-Latina/o Resource Center. Staff support provided by the Institute for Humanities Research.

See also: Film website.

Article written by Guy Lasnier.