Jon Lewis photographs of the United Farm Workers movement

This collection consists of approximately eleven thousand photographs created by Jon Lewis that document the activities of César Chávez, the National Farm Workers Association, and United Farm Workers Organizing Committee in California, 1966-1971, as well as related publications and audiovisual materials, 1967-2009. Most images document activities related to the California Grape Strike in 1966.

Images include migrant agricultural laborers during the picketing fields of table grape growers, including the Di Giorgio Fruit Corporation, in Delano, California, during the California Grape Strike. Other images related to the strikers depict the labor of farm workers, their housing, and the vineyards. A group of images depicts strikers picketing the arrival of Governor Edmund Gerald "Pat" Brown, Sr. at the meeting of the California Democratic Council in Bakersfield, California, February 1966. A significant group of images documents a visit to strikers by Senator Robert F. Kennedy in March 1966, as well as a related local hearing for the Senate Subcommittee on Migratory Labor that he conducted with Senators Harrison A. Williams and George L. Murphy in Delano. Groups of images also document college student volunteers supporting the strike during the summer of 1966.

Many images document a peregrinación (pilgrimage) march during the California Grape Strike from Delano to Sacramento, March-April 1966, including informal portraits of César Chávez; views of marchers and flag bearers holding flags for the National Farm Workers Association; and images of a banner that depicts the Catholic icon of the Virgin Mary known as Our Lady of Guadalupe. Related images to the peregrinación show volunteers and activities that provided material support for the march, including food caravans and temporary camps, as well as rallies held along the route of the march.

A substantial portion of images in the collection document performances of El Teatro Campesino, a theatrical troupe founded by Luis Valdez and Agustin Lira, which performed as a cultural arm of the National Farm Workers Association.

A small group of images depict César Chávez at an outdoor religious service during his Fast for Nonviolence at the Field Office of the United Farm Workers of America in Delano, also known as "Forty Acres," February-March 1968.

Few individuals involved with the strike are identified in the images. Individuals identified in the collection include César Chávez and his wife, Helen Chávez, as well as other members of the union leadership, including James L. Drake, Marshall Ganz, Dolores Huerta, Larry Itliong, Antonio Orendain, Gilbert Padilla, and Fred Ross.

Besides documenting the activities of the groups and individuals, the photographic material in the collection documents the evolution of images from negatives captured by Lewis to resultant prints and publications. The negatives and contact sheets show variant images captured by Lewis. The books and audiovisual materials document the ways in which Lewis and others used the images.