Theses and Dissertations

Valley of Tears: Mexican-American Women in the Rio Grande Valley Farmworker Movement, 1966–1985

Date of Award

12-1-2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

History

First Advisor

Carolina Monisivais

Second Advisor

Mayra Avila

Third Advisor

Brent Campney

Abstract

This thesis will examine the participation of Mexican-American women in the Rio Grande Valley Farmworker Movement from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s. This thesis utilizes Chicana third space feminist theory as a lens to understand Mexican American women’s participation in the Valley’s labor movement in the fight for socio-economic justice and the betterment of their community. This gender specific analysis provides a way to identify traditional and non-traditional organizational efforts with concentration on the transition from Mexican-American women’s auxiliary participation in the 1966-67 melon strike into leadership positions in the UFW and the 1979 onion strike.

This thesis examines Mexican-American women’s participation in the following three case studies from 1966 to 1979 as the foundation for this thesis’ argument. First, the UFW-led 1966-67 Starr County strike in Rio Grande City against five major farms of Griffin and Brand, El Texano, Los Puertos, Sun-Tex and La Casita. Second, the Texas Farmworkers Union (TFW)-led 1975-1977 melon strike in McAllen, Hidalgo, and Weslaco against El Texano Ranch, Griffin and Brand, and Southwestern Fruit & Vegetable Company. And finally, the TFW-led 1979 onion strike in Raymondville against Charles Wetegrove’s farm as well as the UFW’s organizational shift with the leadership of Rebecca Flores.

Comments

Copyright 2025 Samantha Dee Fuentes. All Rights Reserved. https://proquest.com/docview/3313194172

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