MIGRATORY LABOR FILES, 1905-1979, bulk: 1939-1971

Summary: Documents generated by the Migratory Labor Committee of the Consumers League of New Jersey which fought to improve conditions of migrant laborers in the state. The correspondence is primarily of Mary L. Dyckman, long-serving Chair. Also includes documents received and kept as reference files from other organizations, such as the New Jersey Migrant Labor Board and the National Consumers' League, as well as state and federal agencies.

Document types include correspondence, reports, state and federal publications, speeches, minutes, surveys, copies of proposed and actual legislation, charts, bibliographies, newsletters, notes, conference material, press releases, material used in litigation, and audiotape. Several scrapbooks and news clippings are included. Photographs have been removed to the photograph series.

Documents the League's advocacy of compulsory insurance under workers' compensation, a minimum wage, protection of the right of collective bargaining, recreation centers, day care, educational facilities for children and adults, and health care for migrant workers. Also documents the League's investigation and reporting of infractions against the 1940 Child Labor Law, which outlawed the use of children under the age of twelve. Documents preparation of the Brief Concerning Labor Camps for Migrants in New Jersey, which helped lead to the Migrant Labor Act of 1945. Also documents the service of League members on the Migrant Labor Board and the League's continuing advocacy for migrant workers into the 1960s.

The series also includes material concerned with migratory labor from other states and foreign countries, documenting the shift in the origins of migrants after World War II. Subjects covered include wages, migrant camps, child labor, health, living conditions, recruitment, transportation, and education. While most of the material contained in the series is concerned with migrants in agriculture, there is also some material concerning the canning industry in 1943 and much of the later material is also concerned with migrants in industrial occupations.

Of particular interest are site reports, which offer descriptions of actual living conditions at migrant labor camps throughout New Jersey. Also of interest is a 1932 study "Migrants as a Social and Educational Problem in New Jersey," which, as the League proved, contained erroneous statistics and was funded by a cranberry grower, and a speech, given in response to the 1940 Child Labor Law, in which the same grower claims that "the custom of whole families migrating to the farms for the busy season seems to be strictly in accordance with God's harmonious laws." (Box 19, Folder 33) Another interesting item is a League reprint of "The Forgotten People" by Dale Wright (1961) which recounts the author's six months as a migrant laborer.

Also includes audiotapes (reel-to-reel) of the 1965 Migrant Information Meeting.