Bracero Story Explored in New Smithsonian Exhibition

The following advisory was issued today by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History:

WHAT: The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History opens “Bittersweet Harvest: The Bracero Program, 1942-1964″ with remarks by U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis.

WHEN:
Wednesday, Sept. 9
10 a.m.; doors open at 9:30 a.m.

WHERE:
National Museum of American History
14th Street and Madison Drive N.W.
Note: Please enter through the Mall entrance.

WHO:
U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis
Wayne Clough, Secretary, Smithsonian Institution
Richard Kurin, Under Secretary for History, Art, and Culture, Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Secretary Clough and the museum will open “Bittersweet Harvest” in a special ceremony featuring remarks from U.S. Secretary of Labor Solis. The exhibition explores the Emergency Farm Labor Program, more familiarly known as the Bracero Program.

Between 1942 and 1964, the Bracero Program — the largest guest-worker program in U.S. history — brought an estimated 2 million Mexicans into the United States on short-term labor contracts. Through photographs, oral histories and objects, the exhibition examines the experiences of bracero workers and their families while providing insight into Mexican American history and historical context to debates on guest-worker programs.

“Bittersweet Harvest” will remain on display at the museum through Jan. 3, 2010 before embarking on its nationwide tour through the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES).

Note: The gallery will remain open to the press until noon. Exhibition curators will be available for interviews during this time. “

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