Archive of Trampling Out the Vintage

• Frank Bardacke on the origins of the United Farm Workers

  
  
  Today, President Obama designated Cesar Chavez's home a national monument. The 187-acre site, known as Nuestra Senora Reina de la Paz, acted as the United Farm Worker's central planning and coordination hub starting in 1971.
  
  Frank Bardacke, whose book Trampling out the Vintage has been widely considered the defining history of Chavez and the iconic union he led, is interviewed today by The Take Away. 
  
  

  "The political clout that Chavez managed to mobilize for farm workers came from linking up the farm worker movement...with the national boycott movement." Before that time, the farm workers had really been "without allies in the United States," says Bardacke.

  "The guest worker program, which had been in place for 25 years — a whole generation of people — brought contracted Mexican farm workers — to California and Texas primarily — to work on farms, and was designed to prevent them from building unions, and to keep wages artificially low." When the program ended in 1964, there was a new space to build a union for farm workers.

  Visit The Take Away to hear the interview in full.

  By Molly Osberg / 08 October 2012 / post comment

• The "undoctored" brilliance of Trampling Out the Vintage

  John Womack Jr., writing in the newest installment of the Monthly Review, identified Trampling Out the Vintage as a "great piece of U.S. history," and a "brilliantly composed study" of Cesar Chaves and the United Farm Workers. Verso will publish the title in paperback this fall. 
  
  The review details author Frank Bardacke's unique trajectory as a historian. As an activist in and around Southern California through the '60s, Bardacke organized G.I.s against the Vietnam war and founded the Bay Area Revolutionary Union. Later, it was his work for six seasons with the UFW in the fields of the Salinas Vallery that solidified his interest in further researching the union. 

  "The author's critical and analytical powers are remarkable," writes Womack, "undoctored by any academic department." 
  

  Continue Reading

  By Molly Osberg / 30 August 2012 / post comment

• Frank Bardacke meets Tom Morello at Hillman Awards Ceremony

  Frank Bardacke attended the Sidney Hillman Foundation awards ceremony to accept the Hillman Prize in Book Journalism for his epic book Trampling Out the Vintage: Cesar Chavez and the Two Souls of the United Farm Workers. The event was held on May 1, 2012 in New York City and Frank's acceptance speech can be viewed here.

  Frank met fellow award winner Tom Morello at the ceremony. The activist, songwriter, and musician was given a special Officers' Award for his commitment to workers' rights. Frank and Tom discussed the history of "This Land is Your Land", which Tom had performed earlier in the evening.

  

  The Sidney Hillman Foundation's Hillman Prizes for Excellence in Reporting in Service of the Common Good are given to journalists whose work identifies important social and economic issues and helps bring about change for the better.

  By Anne Sullivan / 23 May 2012 / post comment

• Frank Bardacke wins the 2012 Hillman Prize in Book Journalism

  Frank Bardacke was awarded the Hillman Prize in Book Journalism for his epic book Trampling Out the Vintage: Cesar Chavez and the Two Souls of the United Farm Workers, which was published by Verso Books in 2011 to rave reviews.

  The Sidney Hillman Foundation's Hillman Prizes for Excellence in Reporting in Service of the Common Good are given to journalists whose work identifies important social and economic issues and helps bring about change for the better.

  This year, the Foundation recognized stories about the struggles of families during the recession, fairness in immigration policy, flaws in education reform, contract workers on military bases, farm workers and battered women in prison.

  The Hillman Foundation will present its distinguished annual journalism prizes, awarded every year since 1950, at a ceremony and reception at The Times Center in Manhattan on May 1st.

  For a full list of this year's winners, visit Hillman's site.

  By Anne Sullivan / 06 April 2012 / post comment

• Frank Bardacke discusses his book on Your Call radio

  Marking Cesar Chavez's upcoming birthday, Your Call host Rose Aguilar interviewed Frank Bardacke about the history of the UFW and how it has changed over the years. The show aired on March 27th on KALW, public radio in San Francisco. The interview is available here.

  By Anne Sullivan / 27 March 2012 / post comment

< 1 2 3 >