Archive Report
Archive Report
Two Decades of Concern
Alien Farm Hands Amid Nation's Jobless
Harvest of Shame,” Edward R. Murrow's television documentary exposing the misery of migrant farm workers, made history 23 years ago. Today, it is hard to imagine a subject that has since been more thoroughly explored by the news media, by scholars and by the government at all levels. But as another harvest season begins, it is clear that the issues raised two decades ago remain — and others have emerged.
Lawmakers responded in the years that followed Murrow's expose with an impressive array of legislation to improve the lives of the nation's farm migrants, who today may number 1.5 million.1 New laws made them eligible for food stamps, provided rural clinics for medical aid, created special school ...