Short-Handled Hoe, 1950s and 1960s
notes: label: Description
content: Migrant farm workers had to use the short-handled hoe or <i>el cortito</i> for thinning and weeding. Because it required them to stoop during long hours in the fields, the hoe became a symbol of the exploitive working conditions. Campaigns by the United Farm Workers and others helped outlaw use of the hoe in 1975.
label: Description
content: American agriculture’s dependence on Mexican labor has always been a source of great conflict and great opportunity for field workers and the agriculture industry. In the U.S., agricultural labor was overwhelmingly Mexican and Mexican American. Issues of legal status, workers rights, and use of domestic workers are issues the unions, agricultural producers, and the federal government have been struggling with since the 1920s.
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Agriculture
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content: Food
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content: Cultures & Communities
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content: FOOD: Transforming the American Table 1950-2000
label: Exhibition
content: Food: Transforming the American Table
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Luis Diaz Zavala
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2009.0134.01
label: catalog number
content: 2009.0134.01
label: accession number
content: 2009.0134
objectType: label: Object Name
content: short handled hoe
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: iron (overall: blade material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall: handle material)
label: Physical Description
content: iron (overall: handle material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 12.3 cm x 15.3 cm x 42 cm; 4 13/16 in x 6 in x 16 9/16 in
label: Measurements
content: blade: 9.2 cm x 15.3 cm; 3 5/8 in x 6 in
label: Measurements
content: handle: iron portion: 20.3 cm; 8 in
label: Measurements
content: handle: wooden portion: 21.7 cm; 8 9/16 in