Eliseo Medina Oral History Interview
Channel: Tom & Ethel Bradley Center CSUN
Date: 2023-10-11

Eliseo Medina tells the story of his participation in the farmworker movement as a striker, volunteer, and organizer of the National Farm Workers Association and later of the United Farm Workers. This is the first of two oral history interviews. It was conducted on May 17, 2022, by Kent Kirkton and José Luis Benavides. Sound and video: Brandon Lien. © Tom and Ethel Bradley Center

Family background and migration: 00:00:23
Family life in Delano; picking seasons: 00:03:09
Working in the fields as a child: 00:07:26
Struggling to survive in winter off months: 00:08:34
Learning about the NFWA and attending the meeting to join the strike: 00:09:56
Josefina and Julio Hernández and the establishment of NFWA: 00:21:32
Joining NFWA and strike life as a volunteer: 00:26:14
Becoming an organizer: 00:30:40
Fred Ross and the campaign at DiGiorgio: 00:34:26
Lessons of organizing: 00:46:02
Other organizers: 00:47:26
Women’s leadership: 00:49:06
Less-known early leaders: 00:51:07
Living conditions for organizers, and Texas melon strike: 00:54:49
The Chicago Grape Boycott: 01:05:46
The Saludado sisters, Antonia and María: 01:29:07
Gilbert Padilla, Blackie Levitt, and the Schenley contract: 01:36:28
Lessons from farmworkers’ struggle: 01:41:18
The Salinas lettuce strike and the Chicago lettuce boycott: 01:44:30
Calexico and union administration: 01:51:51
Issue of lack of union locals: 01:55:05
Women organizers: 01:56:59
Boycott organizers share experiences: 01:59:52
Importance of bilingualism: 02:04:39
Telling your story of hope: 02:12:50

Browse images of our Farmworker Movement Collection here: https://digital-library.csun.edu/fmc 

To view the copyright or license a clip: https://www.csun.edu/bradley-center/licensing-publication#Oral2

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