Using the Iowa Digital Library>> Resources for Instructors >> Lesson Plans >> Migrant Workers in Iowa
Migrant Workers in Iowa*
Worksheet: [PDF]
Grade Level: Secondary (grades 7-12)
Time Required: One fifty minute class period
Standards (National):
NSS 5-12 Thinking Standards
NSS-USH.9-12.10 Era 10: Contemporary United States (1968 to the present): Understands economic, social, and cultural developments in contemporary United States
Standard 2A: The student understands economic patterns since 1968.
- Analyze the economic and social effects of the sharp increase in the labor force participation of women and new immigrants (7-12).
Standard 2B: The Student understands the new immigration and demographic shifts.
- Analyze the new immigration policies after 1965 and the push-pull factors that prompted a new wave of immigrants (5-12).
- Identify the major issues that affected immigrants and explain the conflicts these issues engendered (9-12).
Source: UCLA National Center for History in the Schools
Standards (State):
Iowa Core Curriculum
Behavioral Sciences
- Understand how social status, social groups, social change, and social institutions influence individual and group behaviors
- Understand the local, state, regional, national, and international factors that create patterns of interdependence in the global economy
Geography
- Understand how human factors and the distribution of resources affect the development of society and the movement of populations
History
- Understand the effect of economic needs and wants on individual and group decisions
- Understand cause and effect relationships and other historical thinking skills in order to interpret events and issues
NCSS Curriculum Standards Themes
Culture
People, places, and Environments
Individuals, Groups, and Institutions
Production, Distribution, and Consumption
Global Connections
Inquiry Questions:
1. What is a "migrant worker"? How does it differ from "immigrant"?
2. Why did migrant workers come to Iowa in the 1960s?
3. How has the migrant worker population changed since the 1960s?
4. What struggles do migrant workers face?
5. How are children of migrant workers affected?
6. How do the problems of migrant workers compare to those of laborers in the nineteenth century?
7.What has been done to assist migrant worker populations in Iowa?
Objectives:
Students will
1. Understand the difference between migrant workers and immigrants.
2. Read and analyze newspaper articles about migrant workers in Iowa.
3. Examine and analyze photographs of migrant workers in Iowa.
4. Compare migrant worker populations of the 1960s to those of today and to nineteenth century laborers.
5. Compare migrant population statistics of Iowa to other U.S. states.
6. Analyze why certain states have higher foreign-born populations that others.
Materials Required:
1. Products for introduction activity (clothing, oranges, soybeans, packaging from a pork product, toy car, radio or flash drive, toy tractor, etc.)
2. Online or print access to the following articles from the Iowa Digital Library
$80,716 for N. Iowa Migrants, 1967
Iowa Improves the Lot of the Migratory Worker, 1968
Migrant housing improves, 1960s
New Mexican Recreational Center, 1949
Newspaper clippings from migrant worker scrapbook, 1967
Protecting Migrant Children, 1967
The Onion Harvest, 1980s
Exploitation of Children, 1967
’Catch-up’ aids youths, 1960s
3. Online or print access to the following images from the Iowa Digital Library:
Children participating in migrant education program, Mason City, Iowa, 1960s
Virginia and Julia Guzman in kitchen, Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, 1960s
Mason City (Iowa) Public Library Annual Report, 1965
Prerequisite Knowledge:
1. United States geography
2. Iowa's economy, industry, and resources
3. Labor issues of the nineteenth century
Procedure:
1. Introduction
a. Have an array of products on a table, such as clothing, oranges, soybeans (or soy products), packaging from a pork product, toy car (as representation of the auto industry), radio or flash drive, toy tractor, etc.
b. Briefly introduce each item to the students and then have students gather around the table and write down which items they think involve migrant or immigrant labor. Students should further specify which items likely come from Iowa.
c. Discuss students' conclusions.
- Oranges- likely use migrant or immigrant labor, not from Iowa
- Clothing- most clothing comes from outside the U.S. (China, Vietnam, India, etc.)
- Soybeans- likely use migrant or immigrant labor, from Iowa
- Pork products- likely use migrant or immigrant labor, from Iowa
- Toy car- cars produced in U.S. do not often use migrant or immigrant labor
- Electronics- often designed in the U.S. but manufactured in foreign countries like China, not uncommon for immigrants to be involved in the design aspect
- Tractors- from Iowa, but do not often employ migrant or immigrant workers
2. Migrant vs. Immigrant
a. Have students define the terms “migrant worker” and “immigrant” as well as list similarities and differences. Ask volunteers to share and discuss answers. Record similarities and differences on overhead or chalkboard.
- Migrant worker: “a person who moves regularly in order to find work especially in harvesting crops” (Merriam-Webster)
- Immigrant: “a person who comes to a country to take up permanent residence” (Merriam-Webster)
b. Brainstorm various industries that migrant workers and immigrants would be involved in (migrant workers- mostly agricultural; immigrants- almost anything).
3. Migrant workers in Iowa
a. Have students read and analyze the following articles and photographs:
Newspaper articles
$80,716 for N. Iowa Migrants, 1967
Iowa Improves the Lot of the Migratory Worker, 1968
Migrant housing improves, 1960s
New Mexican Recreational Center, 1949
Newspaper clippings from migrant worker scrapbook, 1967
Protecting Migrant Children, 1967
The Onion Harvest, 1980s
Exploitation of Children, 1967
Catch-up’ aids youths, 1960s
Photographs
Children participating in migrant education program, Mason City, Iowa, 1960s
Virginia and Julia Guzman in kitchen, Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, 1960s
Mason City (Iowa) Public Library Annual Report, 1965
Assessment:
Assessment will be based on the following:
As students are reading the articles and examining the photographs, have them fill out the Migrant Workers in Iowa: 1960s to Today worksheet, which will be turned in for credit.
Enrichment/Remediation:
1. Provide students an outline to assist with reading the articles.
2. Conclude the activity by discussing what else could or should be done to help migrant workers in Iowa.
3. Students may be interested in reading Postville: A Clash of Cultures in Heartland America by Stephen G. Bloom.
4. For more information on the Migrant Action Program see Helping Migrant and Seasonal Farm Worker Families. Annual Report 1971 [Migrant Action Program, Mason City, Iowa].
5. For more information on current migration issues see Migration Dialogue, a factual and nonpartisan information and analysis of international migration issues.
*Written by Sarah Dorpinghaus, University of Iowa Libraries, 2009