California Dreamin’: Migration, Work, and Settlement in the “Other” California

From the exhausted hope of the Joads to the tenacity of Cesar Chavez; from the austere Garveyian self-reliance of Allensworth to the lyricism of the Bakersfield Sound, very few locales have captured the promise, struggles, and artistry of Rural America more than California's San Joaquin Valley. Through readings, films, Visiting Scholar presentations, and place-based experiences at General Allensworth State Park, Sunset Labor Camp, Delano, and the National César Chávez Center, teacher participants will explore the contributions of African Americans, Filipinos, Mexican Americans, and Dust Bowl migrants in the making of America's most productive agricultural region in the heart of California's Central Valley.