President Franklin D. Roosevelt arranged for the Democratic National Convention to nominate Henry A. Wallace as his vice presidential runningmate in 1940. Wallace was an Iowa farmer who had served two terms as FDR’s Secretary of Agriculture

The campaign released a Roosevelt-Wallace button that featured an ear of corn. Corn was Iowa’s principle crop, and the Democrats were courting family farmers who were then trending back to their Republican roots.

In 1940, the state had a small Latino community. Mexican American had come to Iowa not to pick crops, but to work on the railroad.

Latinos in Iowa in early 1900s

The people of Iowa did tip their hat to their Mexican neighbors during this era when the federal government actively promoted a Good Neighbor policy towards Latin America.

The U.S Post Office in Ames, Iowa boasted a Works Project Administration (WPA)- commissioned mural, “Evolution of Corn,” which linked the Aztecs and Iowa farmers.

Four decades later, in 1974, the state established Iowa Commission of Latino Affairs, from which this historic photo was used.

Carlos Muñoz is a professor emeritus of Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, and author of Youth, Identity, Power: The Chicano Movement. He is a founder of the National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies, and more personally, was my advisor at Cal.

The following are excerpts from a speech, “From Dr. King to President Obama: A Call for an Authentic Multiracial Democracy,” delivered at the University of New England the day after the Inauguration of President Obama:

Dr. King inspired me to contribute to the making of the Mexican American civil rights movement throughout the Southwest. It became known as the Chicano movement. … Read the rest of this entry »

During World War II, Latinas in San Francisco’s tortilla and tamale factories formed the “Tortilla Workers’ Union.” It was formally known Local 5-1 of the CIO’s United Cannery, Agricultural, and Packing Allied Workers of America (UCAPAWA).

Conditions were bad.

“In some of the plants, notably the Mexicana, almost feudal relations have existed for many years, with the employer paying the employees in groceries, or with the employee working to pay off a continuing and growing debt to employer,” reported the union.

After organizing the plants, UCAPAWA used its goodwill with the Roosevelt administration to raise salaries during a period of wage and price controls.

The factories were located in a number of neighborhoods, suggesting that Latinos lived not only in the Mission District but in other areas as well. Read the rest of this entry »