Braceros in Oregon Photograph Collection

Braceros in Oregon Photograph Collection. "...In the early 1940s, the number of farm workers in the United States noticeably decreased because of armed forces manpower requirements and competition with higher paying jobs in the defense industries. At the same time, farmers were asked to increase production as part of the successful prosecution of World War II. In 1942 the United States government signed a labor agreement with Mexico that allowed its male citizens to work as farm laborers throughout the U.S. It was known as the Braceros Program. In Oregon more than 15,000 Mexican men worked on farms in all parts of the state from 1942 through 1947."