Undergraduate Fellowship in Digital Humanities (UFDH)

This project tells the story of Imperial Valley farm workers working in the fields during the 1960s and 1970s during the emergence of the UFW. The Imperial Valley is a county of agrarian small cities near the border of Mexicali, whose biggest industry is agriculture. This research is told in the perspective of the Silva Family, a family of 17, that immigrated from Mexicali to the Imperial Valley in order to work in the fields in the mid-1960s. Research was conducted by interviewing 4 of my family members: Isabel Silva (100 years old), Javier Silva Jr. (82 years old), Gustavo Silva (66 years old) and Maria Silva (66 years old). They talk about their hardships of working in the fields, their activism in the UFW and the effects of the UFW on their community and lives. I would like to tell this story as it is one that often overlooks individual farm workers that were involved in the UFW and it allows my family's story to be heard.This activism is something that deserves to be heard and not forgotten, as my family is still proud of the sacrifices they made to fight for their rights.