Holocaust Museum Houston/ JMG Magazine

Bracero in the Field / Photo: Leonard Nadel

Holocaust Museum Houston Hosts the “Bittersweet Harvest” Exhibit

by Sydney Zenon
| December 8, 2016 11:31 am CST

The first of its kind to hit the city, the Holocaust Museum Houston will be hosting its first Spanish/English bilingual exhibit. The exhibit entitled titled “Bittersweet Harvest: The Bracero Program 1942-1964,” will showcase the experiences of those in the bracero program.

The bracero program, meaning manual laborer, encompassed a set of laws and agreements signed into action in 1942 as the Mexican Farm Labor Agreement between the United States and Mexico. The agreement essentially created short-term labor contracts in which Mexican workers were promised adequate food, shelter and pay.

The mistreatment of those workers ultimately led to the agreement’s repeal. While the program was still enacted, photographer Leonard Nadel documented the life of those bracero workers to shed light on the violations and hardships they endured. This exhibit provides a way to educate the community about the human experience and teaches the dangers of inequitable treatment of people.

The Smithsonian National Museum of American History in partnership with the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service organized the exhibit with funding provided by the Smithsonian Latino Center.

“Bittersweet Harvest” will be featured at the Holocaust Museum Houston from Dec. 9, 2016 through May 14, 2017.

Holocaust Museum Houston | 5401 Caroline St., Houston, TX 77004 | 713-942-8000 | Hmh.org

 

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