Viva La Causa! Grape Boycott of South Bend

Abstract

In 1965, the National Farm Workers Association voted to join the Filipino American grape workers on strike against the Delano-area grape growers that galvanized the Hispanic Rights movement for agricultural workers. Boycotts spread across the nation as local organizations such as the Saint Joseph County Grape Boycott Committee (SJCGBC) organized in support of the movement. Archives from Indiana University of Kokomo, and the University of Notre Dame, as well as interviews with local Latino leaders, reveal that area students raised awareness about the distribution of non-union grapes on local campuses and in local stores. Their work pushed the SJCGBC to lead a boycott of local Kroger stores. Local organizing, such as the Grape Boycott of South Bend, built national support for the farm workers movement.