08/27/2026
The Camp That Moved With the Crops — Migrant Labor Camps, 1935
During the Great Depression, thousands of families traveled through California following seasonal agricultural work. Families might move from one region to another as different crops became ready for harvest, creating a cycle of temporary employment and constant relocation.
Many migrant camps had extremely poor living conditions. Some workers lived in tents, automobiles, or makeshift shelters, while others stayed in basic cabins. Clean water, sanitation, electricity, and adequate housing were often limited, and overcrowding could create serious health problems.
Agricultural labor was frequently paid according to the amount harvested rather than by the hour. This meant that a family's income could fluctuate sharply depending on crop conditions, available work, and how quickly workers could pick.
Children were also affected. Frequent moves disrupted their education, and some children worked alongside their parents. Reformers documented these conditions and pushed for better housing, sanitation, education, and medical services.
Photographers including Dorothea Lange and Horace Bristol, along with economist and activist Paul Taylor, helped bring national attention to migrant workers' circumstances. The federal government eventually established camps through the Resettlement Administration and later the Farm Security Administration, providing comparatively better facilities at some locations.
The story of one family moving five times in a single summer is fictional, but the broader pattern of seasonal migration and the harsh conditions in many California labor camps are well documented.
#1935