Embedded Files
“To me, that closet represented that particular person, his sole possessions,
what he could carry in one suitcase and go from town to town.”
- Joe Talaugon
As a child, long-time Guadalupe resident Joe Talaugon would accompany his father on visits with his countrymen—single men and fellow farmworkers who lived in bunkhouses or cabins. Each worker’s “home” would consist of a cot and a makeshift closet. As his father shared wine and news with his friend, young Joe would explore these laborers’ closets that contained everything they owned. Because these men traveled, following the harvest season for work, the closets contained a few necessities—shoes, an old suit, suitcase—and mementos of home.
From Joe Talaugon's perspective:
Labor Camps in General
The labor camps were converted barns in the farmland, with no electricity, running hot water or proper ventilation. Aside from the poor conditions, the labor camps were overpopulated as well. The men made their makeshift houses from these barns by using miscellaneous scraps and planks of wooden materials.
"Very, very, very poor conditions. A lot of the labor camps were converted barns, converted dairy sheds or whatever where they’d milk the cows. A lot of them were just shacks that were old army huts that they just moved on the property. It was very hard growing up there was, we had to go without a lot of things that would make us comfortable because of the condition of the house. There was no electricity, so we just had to survive the best we could, it was hard."
The Traveler, "How much work can I get in here?"
The Filipino farmer traveled across the state and the midwest throughout the year, wherever they could find work. Oftentimes, they had to move abruptly from one labor camp to another so the men had to "pack light" and this to them meant a suitcase with all the things they would need.
"They would stay there for the season and then move out. They had a regular routine, ..... migrant route that they followed. They just didn’t have any rights at the time, they just accepted whatever was offered to them to work. They weren’t thinking too much about ‘oh, I don’t have a nice bed, there’s no air conditioning’ that wasn’t the primary issue. It was just like, ‘how much work can I get in here? How long can I work?"
The Closet, "Everything they owned in one closet."
The Laborer's Closet is the same closet a person would see at every migrant labor camp where Filipinos stay. The closet would normally have the most important belongings of a Filipino farmer - photos of their family in the Philippines, calendar from the Philippines and a suitcase that contained all the garments they would need for their stay. Usually, this suitcase would have a dusty and old suit, a pair of dress shoes and the rest are working clothes.
"They didn’t really have a bedroom, it was like a one room shack with everything in there... a bunk bed, a cot bed, but in their closet it was a reminder for them of their home back in the Philippines. But in these closets, these room they would always have the clothes or the shoes or all these things, their possessions, and I noticed that this is all the young man owned, that was everything that he owned all in that one little closet."
For a more detailed description of the labor camps, please visit:
Dormitory-style labor camp in Susanville, California,
circa 1930. James Earl Wood Collection, Bancroft Library.
Migrant Filipinos in labor camps, circa 1930.
Labor camp sleeping stalls, California, 1923.
NOTE to ES322 students:
I have audio of the interview with Joe, plus transcript
At the exhibit hall was put together a likeness of the laborer's housing, based on recollections and loaned items from Joe and Margie Talaugon
For Further Reading
Talaugon, Joe. Personal Interview. 4 December 2009. (Central Coast Filipino American Oral History Project archived at South County Historical Society (and available on ES322 Bb)
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse