For Immediate Release: September 7, 2006
Contact: Sherri Eng (415) 557-4282
seng@sfpl.org
Historic and Contemporary Stories of California’s Farmworkers Told in Two Exhibitions
As the battle over immigrant rights brews on Capitol Hill, two new exhibitions opening Sept. 16 at the Main Library tell another side of the story of the migrant farmworkers. Both exhibitions are translated into Spanish for Spanish-speaking audiences.
The Migrant Project: Contemporary California Farmworkers / El Proyecto Migratorio: Campesinos Contemporáneos de California is an in-depth photojournalistic portrait detailing the daily lives and struggles of today’s California migrant farmworkers.
Photographer Rick Nahmias traveled to more than 50 rural communities, from Sacramento to the Calexico border, photographing people and recording their stories. The resulting 40-image exhibition puts a human face on this hidden yet proud segment of our society. The Migrant Project runs through Dec. 31 in the Jewett Gallery.
This exhibition is sponsored by California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. (CRLA), Center for Latino Policy Research, The Kurz Family Foundation, and Friends of the San Francisco Public Library.
On Sept. 17, Nahmias will give an overview of the exhibition followed by a panel discussion on current migrant worker issues with CRLA Executive Director Jose Padilla; Martha Guzman, legislative advocate for CRLA Foundation; Kurt Organista of U.C. Berkeley;
and community leader Jesus Lopez. The discussion begins at 1 p.m. in the Koret Auditorium at the Main Library and will be moderated by Scott Shafer of KQED’s “California Report.” Co-presented by CRLA and Facing History and Ourselves.
The second exhibition, A Journey Shared: Photographs by Horace Bristol/Un Viaje Compartido: Fotografías por Horace Bristol, captures the essence of migratory farm life in California during the Great Depression. The exhibition feature 37 photos taken by
Time/LIFE staff photographer Horace Bristol. A shared interest in documenting the plight of migrant farmworkers led Bristol and novelist John Steinbeck to travel together through California’s Central Valley in the winter of 1937-1938. During this journey,
they interviewed and photographed people who became inspiration for characters in Steinbeck’s novel, The Grapes of Wrath.
The exhibition was organized by the National Steinbeck Center and sponsored by Friends of the San Francisco Public Library. A Journey Shared runs through Dec. 31 in the Skylight Gallery.
On Sept. 28, John Steinbeck scholar Susan Shillinglaw and Karen Shinsheimer, curator for Horace Bristol, will discuss the collaboration between Steinbeck and Bristol when they documented migrant workers in California during the Great Depression.
Program begins at 6:30 p.m. in the Koret Auditorium at the Main Library.
Related Programs
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Migrant Writers Program - Heyday Books publisher Malcolm Margolin moderates a discussion with writers Gerald Haslam, author of Workin' Man Blues, Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz, author of Red Dirt: Growing up Okie, Francisco Jimenez, author of The Circuit, and Rose Castillo Guilbault: author of Farmworker’s Daughter: Growing Up Mexican in America.
Each author will read from their books and talk about how the farm worker experience has influenced their work.
Thursday, October 26, 6:00pm.
Main Library, Koret Auditorium,
100 Larkin Street
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One City: One Book San Francisco Reads - Citywide Book Club
The Hummingbird’s Daughter by Luis Alberto Urrea. Programs and discussion groups in English and Spanish. For complete program listings: http://www.sfpl.org/news/ocob/onecity.htm
September – November, 2006
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Luis Alberto Urrea in Conversation with Oscar Villalon - Join us for a special evening featuring an in-depth conversation between Urrea and San Francisco Chronicle book editor Oscar Villalon about The Hummingbird’s Daughter and Urrea’s other books, including The Devil’s Highway: A True Story. Booksigning to follow.
Thursday, October 11, 6:30pm.
Main Library, Lower Level, Koret Auditorium,
100 Larkin Street
All programs and exhibitions are free and open to the public. For more information, please call (415) 557-4277.
Editor’s note: Photos from both exhibits are available. The Migrant Project photographer Rick Nahmias is also available for interview.
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