1 00:00:00,360 --> 00:00:02,920 Speaker 1: Hey there, history fans. We're off this week while I 2 00:00:02,920 --> 00:00:06,040 Speaker 1: complete a cross country move, but don't worry. We've got 3 00:00:06,040 --> 00:00:08,720 Speaker 1: plenty of classic shows to tide you over and be 4 00:00:08,800 --> 00:00:11,200 Speaker 1: sure to meet me back here next Monday for a 5 00:00:11,240 --> 00:00:13,560 Speaker 1: brand new episode. 6 00:00:14,200 --> 00:00:17,200 Speaker 2: Welcome to This Day in History Class from HowStuffWorks dot 7 00:00:17,239 --> 00:00:19,200 Speaker 2: com and from the desk of Stuff You Missed in 8 00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:21,800 Speaker 2: History Class. It's the show where we explore the past 9 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:24,000 Speaker 2: one day at a time with a quick look at 10 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:31,240 Speaker 2: what happened today in history. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 11 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:34,879 Speaker 2: I'm Tracy V. Wilson and it's September eighth. The Delano 12 00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:38,040 Speaker 2: Grape Strike began on this day in nineteen sixty five. 13 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:41,600 Speaker 2: The story goes back to immigration from the Philippines to 14 00:00:41,960 --> 00:00:45,199 Speaker 2: the mainland United States during the nineteen twenties and thirties. 15 00:00:45,720 --> 00:00:48,960 Speaker 2: At that time, most immigration to the United States from 16 00:00:49,040 --> 00:00:52,440 Speaker 2: Asia was banned, but the Philippines was under the United 17 00:00:52,479 --> 00:00:55,920 Speaker 2: States colonial rule. Men from the Philippines were allowed into 18 00:00:55,960 --> 00:01:00,120 Speaker 2: the United States, but they could not become full US citizens. 19 00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:03,600 Speaker 2: Most of these men worked as migrant farm laborers. They 20 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:06,440 Speaker 2: moved from place to place according to when work needed 21 00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:08,800 Speaker 2: to be done in the fields and the vineyards. And 22 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:12,000 Speaker 2: most of them were also unmarried. Because of discriminatory anti 23 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:16,440 Speaker 2: missagination laws, it was illegal for Filipino men to marry 24 00:01:16,480 --> 00:01:19,840 Speaker 2: women who weren't also from the Philippines. But when most 25 00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:22,320 Speaker 2: of these men were coming to the United States, immigration 26 00:01:22,440 --> 00:01:25,440 Speaker 2: for Filipino women was restricted, and that didn't change until 27 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:29,479 Speaker 2: the nineteen sixties. By the time this strike happened, many 28 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:31,600 Speaker 2: of the Filipino men who were working in the fields 29 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:34,440 Speaker 2: were in their fifties and sixties, and conditions for them 30 00:01:34,640 --> 00:01:38,319 Speaker 2: were not good. The pay was very poor. Often there 31 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:40,680 Speaker 2: was nowhere to use the bathroom, and when there was, 32 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:44,760 Speaker 2: the conditions were not sanitary. The sources of drinking water 33 00:01:44,920 --> 00:01:47,400 Speaker 2: during the day also tended to be next to these 34 00:01:47,560 --> 00:01:52,559 Speaker 2: unsanitary bathrooms. So Filipino workers had been advocating for better 35 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:55,840 Speaker 2: pay and better working conditions for years. They had formed 36 00:01:55,840 --> 00:01:59,360 Speaker 2: the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee, and when pay cuts were 37 00:01:59,360 --> 00:02:02,120 Speaker 2: being threatened in the summer of nineteen sixty five, the 38 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:05,720 Speaker 2: committee held a vote. That vote took place on September seventh, 39 00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:08,760 Speaker 2: and they voted to go on strike. The leaders of 40 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:12,840 Speaker 2: this organization and a strike included Larry Itliong. They knew 41 00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:16,000 Speaker 2: that a strike would only be successful if they also 42 00:02:16,040 --> 00:02:19,560 Speaker 2: had the participation of Mexican agricultural workers in the area. 43 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:23,160 Speaker 2: And this was because the growers in California had been 44 00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:26,839 Speaker 2: pitting the Filipino and the Mexican workers against each other 45 00:02:27,040 --> 00:02:31,639 Speaker 2: for years, knowing that divided neither group could really make 46 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:34,840 Speaker 2: a stand. They couldn't really advocate for better treatment and 47 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:37,800 Speaker 2: better pay. If there was a labor dispute with the 48 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:41,800 Speaker 2: Mexican workers, the growers would hire Filipino workers in their place, 49 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:45,839 Speaker 2: and vice versa. So itlong went to Caesar Chavez, who 50 00:02:45,840 --> 00:02:49,040 Speaker 2: had founded the National farm Workers Association with the Lares 51 00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:54,920 Speaker 2: Squerta to organize Mexican workers. He asked the National farm Workers' 52 00:02:54,919 --> 00:02:58,720 Speaker 2: Association to join them in their strike. At first, Chavez 53 00:02:58,760 --> 00:03:02,880 Speaker 2: said Noational farm Workers Association was planning to do a strike, 54 00:03:03,280 --> 00:03:05,560 Speaker 2: but they were thinking about a couple of years down 55 00:03:05,639 --> 00:03:09,040 Speaker 2: the road, not in the immediate future. But about two 56 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:12,839 Speaker 2: weeks later, the Mexican workers joined the Delano strike. This 57 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:17,399 Speaker 2: led to five years of ongoing strikes and an international 58 00:03:17,480 --> 00:03:21,080 Speaker 2: boycott of table grapes that started in nineteen sixty eight. 59 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:25,840 Speaker 2: It also involved marches and demonstrations and other nonviolent protests 60 00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:29,600 Speaker 2: and a hunger strike by Caesar Chavez. The National farm 61 00:03:29,600 --> 00:03:33,880 Speaker 2: Workers Association and the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee combined in 62 00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:37,600 Speaker 2: nineteen sixty six to form the United farm Workers Organizing Committee, 63 00:03:37,600 --> 00:03:40,360 Speaker 2: which later became known as just the United farm Workers. 64 00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:46,120 Speaker 2: The table grape growers in California finally signed contracts with 65 00:03:46,320 --> 00:03:50,840 Speaker 2: the United farm Workers in nineteen seventy the Delano Grape Strike, 66 00:03:50,960 --> 00:03:54,800 Speaker 2: and this cooperation between Mexican and Filipino farm workers was 67 00:03:54,840 --> 00:03:58,120 Speaker 2: the start of a much bigger movement for labor rights 68 00:03:58,200 --> 00:04:02,080 Speaker 2: in American agriculture, although Larry Itlong and some of the 69 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:06,200 Speaker 2: other Filipino leaders later left the United Farmworkers over concerns 70 00:04:06,240 --> 00:04:10,760 Speaker 2: that Filipino voices weren't being represented enough in the organization. 71 00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:14,360 Speaker 2: Thanks so much to Christopher Hasiotis for his research work 72 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:17,160 Speaker 2: for today's episode, and thanks to Tari Harrison for her 73 00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:19,960 Speaker 2: audio work on this show. You can subscribe to This 74 00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:22,919 Speaker 2: Day in History Class on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and 75 00:04:22,920 --> 00:04:25,839 Speaker 2: wherever else you get your podcasts. Tomorrow we will have 76 00:04:25,880 --> 00:04:35,560 Speaker 2: an uprising that stemmed from and affected conditions behind bars. 77 00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:41,040 Speaker 2: This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 78 00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:45,440 Speaker 3: Hi, I'm Eves, and welcome to This Day in History 79 00:04:45,480 --> 00:04:49,840 Speaker 3: class a show that uncovers history one day at a time. 80 00:04:59,120 --> 00:05:03,680 Speaker 3: The day was stept to a fifteen oh four, Michelangelo's 81 00:05:03,720 --> 00:05:07,159 Speaker 3: famous statue of David was unveiled in Florence, Italy and 82 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:11,400 Speaker 3: the Piazza de la Signoria. In the early fifteenth century, 83 00:05:11,760 --> 00:05:14,600 Speaker 3: the overseers of the Office of Works of the Duomo 84 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:19,279 Speaker 3: Florence's Cathedral church commissioned twelve sculptures of figures from the 85 00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:23,720 Speaker 3: Old Testament. The sculptures would be placed on the buttresses 86 00:05:23,800 --> 00:05:28,640 Speaker 3: of the Florence Cathedral. Donatello made a sculpture of Joshua 87 00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:33,039 Speaker 3: and terra Cotta in fourteen ten. More than fifty years later, 88 00:05:33,240 --> 00:05:36,840 Speaker 3: in fourteen sixty four, the Opad II commissioned a sculpture 89 00:05:36,839 --> 00:05:41,400 Speaker 3: of David by Agostino di Buccio, but Agostino did not 90 00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:44,880 Speaker 3: finish the project. He only managed to sculpt some of 91 00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:47,840 Speaker 3: the legs, Torso and drapery out of a block of 92 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:52,480 Speaker 3: Querrara marble before his involvement with the project ended. A 93 00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:57,080 Speaker 3: decade later, Antonio Rossellino was assigned to finish the task 94 00:05:57,160 --> 00:06:01,520 Speaker 3: of sculpting David, but to work on the project two 95 00:06:02,040 --> 00:06:04,599 Speaker 3: and the block of marble remained in the yard of 96 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:09,280 Speaker 3: the cathedral workshop for years. It wasn't until the sixteenth 97 00:06:09,279 --> 00:06:12,080 Speaker 3: century when the Open Eye would find someone who would 98 00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:15,719 Speaker 3: finish the sculpture. It commissioned the job to twenty six 99 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:19,919 Speaker 3: year old Michelangelo in August of fifteen oh one. The 100 00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:23,440 Speaker 3: next month he began creating the statue, and for more 101 00:06:23,480 --> 00:06:27,440 Speaker 3: than two years, Michelangelo worked on the sculpture of David. 102 00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:32,960 Speaker 3: The statue is seventeen feet or five meters tall. David 103 00:06:33,040 --> 00:06:37,320 Speaker 3: is depicted before his battle with Goliath, standing in contrapasto 104 00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:41,520 Speaker 3: and holding a sling draped over his left shoulder. His 105 00:06:41,640 --> 00:06:46,200 Speaker 3: hands and head are disproportionately large. But as the statue 106 00:06:46,240 --> 00:06:49,360 Speaker 3: was nearing its completion in early fifteen oh four, it 107 00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:51,919 Speaker 3: was determined that it would not be installed on the 108 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:56,280 Speaker 3: roof of the Florence Cathedral. It weighed six tons and 109 00:06:56,440 --> 00:07:01,240 Speaker 3: lifting it would prove difficult, so a group Florentine artists 110 00:07:01,240 --> 00:07:06,200 Speaker 3: including Leonardo da Vinci, Sandro Botticelli, and Perugino, was brought 111 00:07:06,200 --> 00:07:10,720 Speaker 3: together to determine a more fitting location for David. After 112 00:07:10,840 --> 00:07:13,760 Speaker 3: months of debate, it was decided that David would be 113 00:07:13,800 --> 00:07:16,680 Speaker 3: placed in the Piazza de la Signoria in front of 114 00:07:16,720 --> 00:07:20,400 Speaker 3: the entrance to the city's town hall. The statue was 115 00:07:20,440 --> 00:07:25,280 Speaker 3: installed in June, replacing Donatello's bronze sculpture of Judas and Halafernes. 116 00:07:26,440 --> 00:07:29,160 Speaker 3: It took four days for the statue to be moved 117 00:07:29,240 --> 00:07:31,880 Speaker 3: the half mouth from its courtyard to its spot at 118 00:07:31,880 --> 00:07:35,560 Speaker 3: the piazza. It was suspended from ropes in a wooden 119 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:40,000 Speaker 3: cage and pulled along on grease beams. David was installed 120 00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:44,440 Speaker 3: facing Rome on September eighth. The statue was unveiled to 121 00:07:44,480 --> 00:07:48,920 Speaker 3: the public. Though a religious statue, David became a civic 122 00:07:48,960 --> 00:07:53,880 Speaker 3: symbol for Florence's struggle against the powerful Medici family. In 123 00:07:53,920 --> 00:07:57,360 Speaker 3: eighteen seventy three, David was removed from the piazza for 124 00:07:57,440 --> 00:08:00,840 Speaker 3: protection from damage and put inside the Acid Damia Gallery 125 00:08:00,920 --> 00:08:04,720 Speaker 3: of Florence. A replica of the sculpture was installed at 126 00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:06,040 Speaker 3: the piazza. 127 00:08:05,480 --> 00:08:06,280 Speaker 2: In nineteen ten. 128 00:08:07,520 --> 00:08:11,720 Speaker 3: David is one of Michelangelo's most recognizable artworks, and it's 129 00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:16,760 Speaker 3: considered a masterpiece of high Renaissance sculpture. In twenty ten, 130 00:08:17,160 --> 00:08:21,040 Speaker 3: a fiberglass reproduction of Michelangelo's David was placed on the 131 00:08:21,120 --> 00:08:25,640 Speaker 3: roofline of the Florence Cathedral for a day, I'm eave 132 00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:28,480 Speaker 3: deefcode and hopefully you know a little more about history 133 00:08:28,520 --> 00:08:31,520 Speaker 3: today than you did yesterday. We'll see you here in 134 00:08:31,560 --> 00:08:32,720 Speaker 3: the same place tomorrow. 135 00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:49,880 Speaker 2: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 136 00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:51,640 Speaker 2: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.