The Museum of Work & Culture, a division of the Rhode Island Historical Society, invites the public to a reception celebrating its current exhibitions, Bittersweet Harvest: The Bracero Program, 1942-1964 and “This Kind of Love, Our Love”: Latino Stories in the Blackstone Valley, 1960s-Today. Attendance is free, and refreshments will be served.
About the Exhibitions
Facing labor shortages on the home front during World War II, the United States initiated a series of agreements with Mexico to recruit guest workers for American farms and railroads. The Emergency Farm Labor Program, more familiarly known as the Bracero Program, enabled approximately 2 million Mexicans to enter the United States. Also on display will be brand-new panels that present the history of Rhode Island’s own Braceros. Complimenting the Smithsonian poster exhibit, the Museum, in partnership with Rhode Island Latino Arts, will present “This Kind of Love, Our Love: Latino Stories in the Blackstone Valley, 1960s-Today.” “This Kind of Love” continues the themes of “Bittersweet Harvest” locally, presenting the history of Latino settlement and community-building over the past half-century in Rhode Island’s Blackstone Valley region, from Central Falls to Woonsocket.
“Bittersweet Harvest: The Bracero Program, 1942-1964” was organized by the National Museum of American History in partnership with the SITES, and received federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center.
Funding provided in part by a grant from the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities, through the Rhode Island Culture, Humanities, and Arts Recovery Grant (RI CHARG) program. This program was made possible thanks to the National Endowment for the Arts, via funds from the federal American Rescue Plan Act.