Bittersweet Harvest: The Bracero Program, 1942-1964

Bittersweet Harvest, a bilingual (English/Spanish) exhibition from the Smithsonian, explores the little-known story of the Bracero program; the largest guest worker program in U.S history. Between 1942 and 1964, millions of Mexican men came to the United States on short-term labor contracts. Both bitter and sweet, the Bracero experience tells a story of exploitation but also of opportunity.  This exhibition is organized into three main sections that explore the Braceros’ motivations and expectations for the journey north, the work they did and the effects the Bracero program had on family and communities in Mexico and the United States. 

Bittersweet Harvest features the work of famed photojournalist Leonard Nadel as well as oral histories collected by the Bracero Oral History Project. This exhibition is organized by the National Museum of American History and organized for travel by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service. Funding is made possible through the Smithsonian’s Latino Center, which celebrates Latino culture, spirit and achievement in America by facilitating the development of exhibitions, research, collections and education programs​. Please visit, www.sites.si.edu, for more information about the Smithsonian Institutions Traveling Exhibitions. ​The exhibit also included art generously loaned from CALACA artist members. The CALACA Cultural Center's mission is to preserve and promote Latino and Indigenous cultural arts. CALACA artists included Gabriela Muñoz, Martin Moreno, Jose Benavides, Norma Garcia-Torres, Joe Ray, Tavo Barrios, Roberto Martinez, and Marco Albarrán.​​​

Image: Bracero in the field. Photo by Leonard Nadel, 1956.