Object Details
- Description
- This El Camino Junior High School, Santa Maria, CA sweatshirt (hoodie) was used by agricultural worker Monica Camacho Ramirez.
- Monica Camacho Ramirez was born in La Piedad, Michoacán, Mexico on February 3, 1994. Her mother, Martha Ramirez, was an agricultural worker. Monica migrated to the United States when she was six years old and settled in La Puente, California. She attended Santa Maria High School in Santa Maria, California. She began working as a farm worker when she was 17 years old picking strawberries to help her mother with medical bills and later used her money to pay for her DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals). She describes the hardships of working in the fields picking strawberries, pumpkins, chilies, tomatoes and weed-picking. She mentions working with fellow high school girl friends who formed a crew. She states that she and her friends opted for fieldwork because it was accessible to people with or without legal documentation and for teenagers seeking to secure a full-time summer employment. She describes a regular workday to be eight to twelve hours, six to seven days of the week, and mentions people younger than 15 years old working in the fields. Interestingly, workers were forbidden from eating the crops they picked because of the chemicals used posed a danger to their health. Monica talks about saving her money to help her mother in case of a family emergency, to pay for her DACA, and to finance for her first car. She spends details the process of filing her DACA application. After receiving the DACA Monica started to work at the retail store where she states the wages were significantly lower but not as physically demanding than the fields.
- Location
- Currently on loan
- date made
- ca 2007
- place used
- United States: California, Santa Maria
- Associated Place
- United States: California
- See more items in
- Work and Industry: Agriculture
- Credit Line
- Gift of Monica Camacho Ramirez
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
- ID Number
- 2018.0256.1
- catalog number
- 2018.0256.1
- accession number
- 2018.0256
- Object Name
- hoodie
- Physical Description
- polyester, cotton (overall material)
- white; blue; red (overall color)
- Measurements
- overall, flat: 90 cm x 120 cm x 3 cm; 35 7/16 in x 47 1/4 in x 1 3/16 in
- overall, mounted: 35 1/2 in x 22 in x 12 in; 90.17 cm x 55.88 cm x 30.48 cm
- Record ID
- nmah_1904639
3D Model