“Cannery Workers, Cannery Lives”
Sunday, April 23, 2023 | 1:30 – 3:30 pm PT
Biblioteca Latinoamericana Branch Library, San Jose Public Library
You are invited to the launch of the Before Silicon Valley Project series of public programs, a talk with historian Dr. Glenna Matthews titled “Cannery Workers, Cannery Lives.” The City of San Jose will also present the project with a City Proclamation at this event! Read more about the project below.
This event is part of The Before Silicon Valley Project, a bilingual website research and education project highlighting the little-documented history of ethnic Mexican migration, work, cultural life, and civil rights activism in Santa Clara County from 1920 to 1960. Other planned events include a “tardeada” (a traditional afternoon party featuring music, food, and dancing), a bicycle tour of historic sites led by a local cycling club San José Bike Party, and a series of community conversations built around themes of work, home, family, community, and culture.
These events will accompany the launch of a new San Jose Library bilingual website, which frames local 20th century Mexican American history within recent scholarship using oral histories, an online exhibit, mini-documentaries, scholar commentaries, a timeline, and K-12 lesson plans.
This project is supported by a Humanities for All Project Grant.
