Motivations for the Delano Grape Strike: Supporting Question 2

About This Lesson

Students explore Supporting Question 2 through a series of activities that help them examine the motivations that led farm workers in Delano, California, to go on strike in September 1965. Students will examine the events that led Filipino farm workers, led by Larry Itliong, to start the Delano grape strike of 1965. They will then read excerpts from El Plan de Delano, a document created by the National Farm Workers Association at the time, in order to explore workers’ motivations for the strike. By the end of the lesson, students will understand that workers pursued collective action not only to secure higher wages and improved working conditions but also to secure justice and dignity for themselves and their communities.

Supporting Question

What motivated farm workers in Delano, California, to go on strike in 1965?

Formative Task

Students will create a headline describing what motivated farm workers in Delano, California, to go on strike in 1965.

Lesson Plan

Activity 1: Reflect on Taking the First Steps Toward Change

In this lesson, students will explore what motivated farm workers to go on strike against grape growers in Delano, California, in 1965. To help foster historical empathy and build on students’ lived experience, ask them to reflect privately in their journals on the following prompt:

Think about something you’d like to change within yourself or your school or community. What are the first steps you would take to make a change? What challenges might people face when trying to take the first step toward change? 

After students have finished reflecting, give volunteers the opportunity to share, but allow students to keep their responses private if they choose. 

Then encourage students to connect their reflection to what they learned in the previous lesson about the challenges and conditions that farm workers faced. Engage the class in a discussion by posing the following questions:

• Given what you learned in the previous lesson, why might it have been difficult for farm workers to take the first step in changing their working and living conditions?
• What makes people willing and able to take the first steps toward challenging injustice? 

Explain to students that in September 1965, farm workers in Delano, California, a small agricultural town of only 11,000 people, went on strike against local grape growers. Share with students that, while there had been many farm worker strikes in California before this moment, most were unsuccessful, and this strike marked the beginning of one of the most significant efforts in US history to advance the rights and improve the working conditions of farm workers. In this lesson, students will explore farm workers’ motivations for the strike. 

Next, distribute a copy of the handout Labor Movement Vocabulary to each student. Read the handout aloud to introduce key concepts about the labor movement and unions that will appear in this lesson and throughout the inquiry. See Teaching Note 2: Introducing Labor Movement Vocabulary for additional guidance. 

Activity 2: Watch a Clip from the Film Delano Manongs 

In this activity, students will explore the events leading up to the 1965 Delano grape strike by watching a clip from the documentary Delano Manongs, How the Delano Grape Strike of 1965 Began. Before showing the clip, provide the following context:

• By the 1960s, Filipino farm workers in California were mainly older single men. This was the result of US immigration policies that led to more male than female Filipino immigration, as well as a California law that prohibited Filipino farm workers from marrying white women. 
• These workers were known as “manongs.” The word manong translates to “older brother” in Ilocano, a Filipino language. It is a term of respect and affection that many Filipino Americans use to honor the pioneer generation of first-wave Filipino immigrants.
• Filipino and Mexican farm workers in California belonged to separate unions. Filipino farm workers were members of the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC), led by Larry Itliong, Philip Vera Cruz, and Pete Velasco. Mexican farm workers were members of the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), led by Cesar Chavez, Helen Fabela Chavez, Dolores Huerta, and Gilbert Padilla.  

Distribute the handout Viewing Guide for Delano Manongs, Part 1 and read aloud the directions and questions. Then begin playing the video clip. As students watch, pause the video at the following time stamps and give students time to answer each of the viewing guide questions.

• After Filipino workers in Delano voted to go on strike, Larry Itliong asked volunteers to create a picket line. Why didn’t any workers volunteer to picket? What does this reveal about the challenges that farm workers faced in taking their first steps for change? (2:56)
• Who was Larry Itliong, and what influence did he have among Filipino farm workers? (5:09) 
• What challenges and setbacks did AWOC (the Filipino farm workers’ union) face after they decided to strike against Delano grape growers in 1965? (7:01)
• Why did Mexican farm workers from the NFWA decide to join the Delano grape strike begun by AWOC? 
• What challenges or risks do workers face when they go on strike? Why do you think Delano farm workers embraced these challenges and risks?

After students have finished watching the video, ask volunteers to briefly share their responses.  

Activity 3: Explore Motivations for the Delano Grape Strike

After learning about the events that led to the Delano grape strike, students will now explore farm workers’ motivations for participating in the strike. The class will use the Save the Last Word For Me strategy to discuss and analyze the reading El Plan de Delano (the Plan of Delano). Be aware that this reading is a primary text that uses the outdated terms “Negro” and Arabian” in reference to African Americans and Arabic-speaking people. Refer to Teaching Note 1: Offensive and Outdated Language for additional support. 

Explain to students they will explore what motivated farm workers to go on strike in Delano despite the risks. Provide each student with a copy of the reading El Plan de Delano (the Plan of Delano) and read the text aloud together. Then ask students to return to the text and highlight three sentences that help explain farm workers’ motivations for striking. 

Divide the class into groups of three, where they will take turns sharing one of their highlighted quotations. After one student reads a quotation to the group, the other two group members will discuss its significance for a minute before the student who shared the quotation explains their reasons for choosing it. Each student should have the opportunity to share one quotation before the activity ends. Debrief the activity with a whole-group discussion of the following questions:

• According to the farm workers, what were the risks associated with joining the 1965 Delano grape strike? 
• How did farm workers’ past experiences shape their views on the strike?
• What information does the document provide about why farm workers chose to strike in 1965, in spite of the risks? From where did they draw their strength and courage? 
• What vision for the future does this document provide? What were farm workers striking for?   

Activity 4: Reflect on the Purpose of the Strike

Give students an opportunity to summarize their understanding of farm workers’ motivations for participating in the Delano grape strike. Ask them to respond to the following journal prompt, drawing from the materials in this lesson: 

In what ways was the 1965 Delano grape strike about more than wages and working conditions? 

If time allows, have volunteers share their reflections aloud. 

Formative Task

Create a Newspaper Headline

As the formative task for this supporting question, students will create a headline for a newspaper article that answers the question, “What motivated farm workers in Delano, California, to go on strike in 1965?”