#tractorcade

The Southwest Collection has collaborated with the hard working activists of the American Agriculture Movement (AAM) for many years to document their efforts. They’ve passed many an archival item along to us, not the least of which were a couple hundred “American Agriculture News” volumes dating from 1978 to 1983. The most recent volume we own is this one from December 1983.

Tractorcade, All Things Considered, 02/05/1979

MARCHING ON WASHINGTON

In February 1979, All Things Considered visited the National Mall to record a spectacle known as Tractorcade. A convoy of farmers from the American Agriculture Movement drove their tractors thousands of miles in winter conditions from places like Texas, Ohio and Colorado, to rally in support of farmworkers’ rights to earn a living wage.

“The way we...bring our point across…is by bringing the tractor. The tractor is out of place in Washington, D.C.”

- A member of the 1979 tractor convoy

The digital preservation of this audio has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Researcher Laura Garbes contributed to this post.

Several years ago, the Southwest Collection began collaborating with members of the American Agriculture Movement (AAM) to document their, and other farmers’, decades of hard work and activism. We have received many archival items from AAM members, not the least of which were a couple hundred “American Agriculture News” volumes dating from 1978 to 1983. This is a page from its “Tractorcade Special” issue featured, aside from tales of the event itself, other items of interest such as this chart of contemporary produce prices.

Several years ago, the Southwest Collection began collaborating with members of the American Agriculture Movement (AAM) to document their, and other farmers’, decades of hard work and activism. We have received many archival items from AAM members, not the least of which were a couple hundred “American Agriculture News” volumes dating from 1978 to 1983. This is the cover of the issue dedicated to one of the AAM’s finest moments: the 1979 Tractorcade.

Last year, the SWC shared our American Agricultural Movement (AAM) Records in an exhibit entitled Tractorcade! commemorating the 35th anniversary of the AAM’s last great Tractorcade to Washington, D.C., in 1979. It featured oral histories, photographs, newspaper articles, and artifacts that allowed our curators to tell this unique story of authentic U.S. grassroots activism.

The AAM believed in the tried-and-true tactic of distributing literature about their cause, including many pamphlets like this one that explained Parity and the rest of its goals.

Last year, the SWC shared our American Agricultural Movement (AAM) Records in an exhibit entitled Tractorcade! commemorating the 35th anniversary of the AAM’s last great Tractorcade to Washington, D.C., in 1979. It featured oral histories, photographs, newspaper articles, and artifacts that allowed our curators to tell this unique story of authentic U.S. grassroots activism.

The Tractorcade culminated thousands of tractors parked near the Capitol Mall. Although local authorities weren’t thrilled by the traffic snarls they caused, farmers were allowed to roam Washington, often congregating patriotically at such sites as the Lincoln Memorial.