LibrarySearch offers a streamlined interface for finding books and other media that combines the collections of UO Libraries and Summit libraries.
Listed here are several of the major published studies of Oregon's Latino History. See the box below for tips to find more published studies on Oregon's Latino History.
Bracero Railroaders: The Forgotten World War II Story of Mexican Workers in the U.S. West by
Desperate for laborers to keep the trains moving during World War II, the U.S. and Mexican governments created a now mostly forgotten bracero railroad program that sent a hundred thousand Mexican workers across the border to build and maintain railroad lines throughout the United States, particularly the West. Although both governments promised the workers adequate living arrangements and fair working conditions, most bracero railroaders lived in squalor, worked dangerous jobs, and were subject to harsh racial discrimination. Making matters worse, the governments held a percentage of the workers earnings in a savings and retirement program that supposedly would await the men on their return to Mexico. However, rampant corruption within both the railroad companies and the Mexican banks meant that most workers were unable to collect what was rightfully theirs. Historian Erasmo Gamboa recounts the difficult conditions, systemic racism, and decades-long quest for justice these men faced. The result is a pathbreaking examination that deepens our understanding of Mexican American, immigration, and labor histories in the twentieth-century U.S. West.
Mexican Labor and World War II: Braceros in the Pacific Northwest, 1942-1947 by
"Although Mexican migrant workers have toiled in the fields of the Pacific Northwest since the turn of the century, and although they comprise the largest work force in the region's agriculture today, they have been virtually invisible in the region's written labor history. Erasmo Gamboa's study of the bracero program during World War II is an important beginning, describing and documenting the labor history of Mexican and Chicano workers in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho and contributing to our knowledge of farm labor."--Oregon Historical Quarterly
Nosotros: The Hispanic People of Oregon: Essays and Recollections by
Nosotros offers a variety of perspectives on Oregon's multifaceted Hispanic community. First published in 1995, it remains a valuable resource, containing essays by a host of writers, whose topics range from Spanish explorers and vaqueros to analyses of modern government policy, from explanations of traditional cultural celebrations to examinations of works by exciting new artists, from accounts of migrant camp life to success stories about the state's Hispanic entrepreneurs. Nosotros also features a special collection of personal narratives, gathered during a two-year, statewide oral history project. From this rich blend of essays and stories emerges a picture of a community with deep roots and a promising future in Oregon.
Mexicanos in Oregon: Their Stories, Their Lives by 
Of Forests and Fields: Mexican Labor in the Pacific Northwest by
Just looking at the Pacific Northwest's many verdant forests and fields, it may be hard to imagine the intense work it took to transform the region into the agricultural powerhouse it is today. Much of this labor was provided by Mexican guest workers, Tejano migrants, and undocumented immigrants, who converged on the region beginning in the mid-1940s. Of Forests and Fields tells the story of these workers, who toiled in the fields, canneries, packing sheds, and forests, turning the Pacific Northwest into one of the most productive agricultural regions in the country. Employing an innovative approach that traces the intersections between Chicana/o labor and environmental history, Mario Sifuentez shows how ethnic Mexican workers responded to white communities that only welcomed them when they were economically useful, then quickly shunned them. He vividly renders the feelings of isolation and desperation that led to the formation of ethnic Mexican labor organizations like the Pineros y Campesinos Unidos Noroeste (PCUN) farm workers union, which fought back against discrimination and exploitation. Of Forests and Fields not only extends the scope of Mexican labor history beyond the Southwest, it offers valuable historical precedents for understanding the struggles of immigrant and migrant laborers in our own era. Sifuentez supplements his extensive archival research with a unique set of first-hand interviews, offering new perspectives on events covered in the printed historical record. A descendant of ethnic Mexican immigrant laborers in Oregon, Sifuentez also poignantly demonstrates the links between the personal and political, as his research leads him to amazing discoveries about his own family history. www.mariosifuentez.com
Seeing Color: Indigenous Peoples and Racialized Ethnic Minorities in Oregon by
Indigenous peoples and racial minorities have lived and thrived in Oregon for centuries. Their legacy is interwoven with the state's history and culture even as they continue to struggle with prejudice, environmental pressures, shrinking state revenues, the effects of globalization, and the changing dynamics of the state economy. Current U.S. immigration policy and the forces of globalization have played a critical role in creating a dynamic process named the browning of Oregon. This anthology brings together a group of noted multidisciplinary scholars, who explore the rich and varied experiences of Oregon's native communities and racial minorities. The book is essential reading for students, teachers, and the general public interested in contemporary racial politics.
The Story of PCUN and the Farmworker Movement in Oregon by 
Transborder Lives: Indigenous Oaxacans in Mexico, California, and Oregon by
Lynn Stephen's innovative ethnography follows indigenous Mexicans from two towns in the state of Oaxaca--the Mixtec community of San Agustín Atenango and the Zapotec community of Teotitlán del Valle--who periodically leave their homes in Mexico for extended periods of work in California and Oregon. Demonstrating that the line separating Mexico and the United States is only one among the many borders that these migrants repeatedly cross (including national, regional, cultural, ethnic, and class borders and divisions), Stephen advocates an ethnographic framework focused on transborder, rather than transnational, lives. Yet she does not disregard the state: She assesses the impact migration has had on local systems of government in both Mexico and the United States as well as the abilities of states to police and affect transborder communities. Stephen weaves the personal histories and narratives of indigenous transborder migrants together with explorations of the larger structures that affect their lives. Taking into account U.S. immigration policies and the demands of both commercial agriculture and the service sectors, she chronicles how migrants experience and remember low-wage work in agriculture, landscaping, and childcare and how gender relations in Oaxaca and the United States are reconfigured by migration. She looks at the ways that racial and ethnic hierarchies inherited from the colonial era--hierarchies that debase Mexico's indigenous groups--are reproduced within heterogeneous Mexican populations in the United States. Stephen provides case studies of four grass-roots organizations in which Mixtec migrants are involved, and she considers specific uses of digital technology by transborder communities. Ultimately Stephen demonstrates that transborder migrants are reshaping notions of territory and politics by developing creative models of governance, education, and economic development as well as ways of maintaining their cultures and languages across geographic distances.
Try searching for materials in the UO Libraries' WorldCat, the worldwide catalog of library holdings, for these and similar subject terms (all links to searches in UO and Summit Libraries using LibrarySearch):
To learn more about searching using these or other Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), please check out the information below on this page:
Occupied America: A History of Chicanos by Books, videos, and other materials in library catalogs are assigned official subject headings by the Library of Congress (LCSH) by cataloging librarians. These subject headings describe an item's content and what it is about, and are useful for focusing research on broader, narrower, or related topics. Look for subject heading links in the library catalog to find more items on the same topic. Some subject headings are dated or even problematic, and they can be changed through a petition process.
For example, the book Dance and the Hollywood Latina: Race, Sex, and Stardom has LC subject headings to describe it like "Hispanic Americans in motion pictures" and "Race in motion pictures," but (as of 2022), "Latina" is not an official LCSH and "Latinos" is listed as a variant.
If you know the subject headings that are likely to be tagged on the item you want to find, search by Subject. Eugene (Or.) -- History is an example of a Geographical Subject Heading.
Subdivisions, or subheadings, are words or phrases which may be added to a subject heading to create a more effective search. They are hyperlinked in LibrarySearch so that you can use them to see all records they are connected with.
Some standard subheadings are:
| Type of Subdivision | Examples | Useful for: |
|---|---|---|
|
Topical – What this item is about (content) |
Museums Aging Statistical Methods |
Narrowing a broader topic into subtopics |
|
Form |
Dictionaries Periodicals Textbooks |
Useful for locating specific types of materials |
|
Chronological |
21st century Japanese Heian period, 794-1185 Middle Ages, 600-1500 |
Locating information about a particular era or time period |
|
Geographical (place) |
England --London Eugene (Or.) Narnia (Imaginary place) |
Finding information about a specific place or region |
| Other Common Subdivisions |
Bibliography Biography Criticism and interpretation Translations into [language] Social life and customs Fiction |
Locating bibliographies, fiction, etc. |
Cataloging librarians follow specific rules for adding LC Subject Headings to an items record.
Library of Congress (LC) Call Numbers are like an item's address to help you find where it lives on the shelf. Each letter stands for an academic discipline. In the image below, L is for Education, LD is for Individual Institutions - United States. Can you guess which institution is at LD 4363 .U55 2006?
To read a call number, read the number from left to right or top to bottom as follows:
Lastly, the shelf is organized from top to bottom in sections, so you'll zig-zag down each section 
to look for your call number before moving to the next section.
Bonus: You can also click the "Locate" option in LibrarySearch to see a floor map with the number of the shelf your item is on.
Letter |
Subject Area |
|---|---|
| A | General Works |
| B | Philosophy, Psychology, Religion |
| C | Auxiliary Sciences of History |
| D | World History |
| E | History of the Americas |
| F | History of the Americas |
| G | Geography, Anthropology, Recreation |
| H | Social Sciences |
| J | Political Science |
| K | Law |
| L | Education |
| M | Music |
| N | Fine Arts |
| P | Language and Literature |
| Q | Science |
| R | Medicine |
| S | Agriculture |
| T | Technology |
| U | Military Science |
| V | Naval Science |
| Z | Bibliography, Library Science, Information Resources |
To drill down into the LC Classification Outline, use the link below:
1501 Kincaid Street
Eugene, OR 97403
P: 541-346-3053
F: 541-346-3485
