CaliforniaMaking It Happen

By: Kyle Pollitt

Economy California was not affected as early or as hard with

the Great Depression. The economy of California was diversified enough

with industry, agriculture, entertainment, tourism, etc. that when other states were completely devastated, California slowly limped along.

Labor related industries where people worked with their hands and were not afraid to get dirty survived the best

This work ethic was built on the backs of those who came to California willing to prospect for their fortune and those who built the cities and railroads in support of California’s harvest.

Union Workers

When Unions and Labor Federations began forming and more “Nonworking men” migrated to California, deadly riots soon followed.

In the largest strike in history up to 1934 5,000 longshoreman workers and their sympathizers rioted on the docks in San Francisco.

The working history of California has continued to be challenging through the 1960’s when Cesar Chavez founded the Farm Workers Union and led strikes for the fair treatment of labor workers upon whose backs California was built.