Agriculture sparked growth in diversity - Holland, Michigan

During the Depression era of the 1930s, Mexican nationals and Hispanics from Texas had begun to migrate into the Midwest region of the United States to harvest fruit and vegetable crops.

The agricultural and industrial labor shortage that developed during World War II lured increasing numbers of Hispanics to the north. Most found work in the fields while some found employment in factories. Two of the crops harvested by migrant workers in Michigan in the 1940s were sugar beets and cucumbers. Holland, with its large Heinz pickle factory, had long been a center for cucumber production, which offered work for migrants in local fields.”*

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