‘We can’t let these stories be forgotten’

Educators from across country gather for program on Central Valley labor history

By California State University, Bakersfield

July 13^th, 2023

Until recently, Berkshire Elementary history teacher Diana Camacho was mostly unaware of farm labor history in the Central Valley, despite her parents and husband being farmworkers.

“I knew some of the names, like Cesar Chavez, but I didn’t know the details. I didn’t really know the history of the labor movements here,” she said.

When she learned earlier this year about a new professional development opportunity for educators who wanted to learn about that history, Camacho jumped at the chance.

Camacho was one of 72 K-12 teachers from across the nation who participated in a week-long program last month that involved visits to several cultural landmark sites in the Kern County area, including the National Chavez Center in Keene, Forty Acres in Delano and the Sunset Labor Camp in Weedpatch.

The program, called “California Dreamin’: Migration, Work, and Settlement in the ‘Other’ California,” was funded through a $190,000 National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grant and is part of a partnership between California State University, Bakersfield and Bakersfield College.

In addition to the site tours themselves, the program also included film screenings, workshops and seminars featuring local experts. Participants also had access to digital readings and archival materials relevant to each site.

“It’s been wonderful. It’s something that hits home for me,” Camacho said. “I like how I can bring this back to my students. There are a lot of students who have family who work in the fields and don’t know the history. I think by delving a little bit deeper, they’ll have a better connection to their own family members and the community.”

Ruthann Betkey, a history teacher at the Urban School of San Francisco, had some prior knowledge of the Central Valley labor movement of the 1960s and 70s but wanted to get a more in-depth education through the program.

“I wanted to get involved because the more I learn about the history of labor organizing in the Central Valley, the more complicated and pivotal I realize it is,” she said. “I’ve taught about the farmworker movement before, and each time I realize there’s more I don’t know.”

Betkey especially appreciated the opportunity to hear from people who directly participated in or witnessed these historic events and having access to reading materials so that she and her fellow participants could have the proper context for what they said.

“Having the opportunity to work with experts here who are archiving the history, who are witnesses to the history, is really foundational to my knowledge so I can help students grasp the significance of what took place here and how the struggle for the rights of farmworkers continues today,” she said.

Betkey acknowledges that many of her students may not feel connected to the Central Valley and just consider it a place to drive through, but she hopes she will be able to convince them of the importance of this region.

“We can never teach it all, but I feel that this history is really critical for them to understand,” she said. “Many of our students have heard of Cesar Chavez, but they need another level of complexity so they don’t walk away with a simplified version that one man alone changed things and that everything is finished.”

Betkey is grateful for the program and hopes it will continue to be offered in the future. She said she especially appreciates both its national and local scope and how it brings teachers together from across the country while still prioritizing local educators.

One of those educators is Angel Ramirez, a CSUB alumnus who teaches eighth-grade U.S. history at Curran Middle School. Ramirez wanted to apply for the program because of his interest in historical research and preservation.

“I got really excited about the prospect of getting involved with that,” he said. “Having grown up in Lamont and having family members who were involved in the [farm labor] movement, all of this rich history here is not being as documented as well as it could be.”

Ramirez said he wants to encourage his students to interview members of their families so they can understand that even documenting their own families is a form of historical preservation.

“I’m trying to get students involved with historical preservation in a more personal way so that we have more of these narratives that are shared,” he said.

‘We can’t let these stories be forgotten’

'A transformative experience'

A few educators came all the way from the East Coast to participate in the California Dreamin’ program, including Amy Bonnici, who teaches at The Wheeler School in Providence, Rhode Island.

Bonnici has taught about the Central Valley’s labor history in the past but wanted to learn more about it. She said the program frequently shed light on parts of the history that she’d never heard of before.

“This has been a transformative experience. This has ignited even more passion in the subject for me,” she said. “These experiences are so important to help rejuvenate us and to remind us why we’re doing it. That helps bring that enthusiasm and spark to our teaching even more.”

Bonnici is looking forward to sharing what she’s learned with her students. She hopes she can get them to understand the importance not only of the history itself but also the oral traditions through which much of that history has been passed down to younger generations.

“I want to reach the hearts and minds of students and show them how everyday people can make big changes in the world. We can’t let these stories be forgotten,” she said.

The directors of the California Dreamin’ program — Dr. Adam Sawyer, associate professor of teacher education and director of the Liberal Studies program at CSUB, and Bakersfield College History Professor Dr. Oliver Rosales are both thrilled with how it went and the responses they received from the participating educators.

“I could not be happier with how the program went and its impact on teacher participants from across the USA,” Dr. Sawyer said. “They will re-enter their classrooms this fall with renewed energy and inspiration, and I have to believe that they will be transformed forever as individuals and educators.”

Dr. Rosales said he and Dr. Sawyer plan to reapply for additional funding from the NEH to continue the program in the future, citing strong demand from the hundreds of educators who applied for one of the limited spots in the program.

“It’s underscored the importance of the grant, the fact that this type of paid professional development needs to continue,” he said. “I’ve seen what went well in the program and what I want to grow in the future. There’s so much potential here.”