1 00:00:00,640 --> 00:00:05,440 Speaker 1: Or La Latino USA listener. So here's a podcast from 2 00:00:05,480 --> 00:00:06,479 Speaker 1: our archives. 3 00:00:07,960 --> 00:00:11,400 Speaker 2: How shall I begin my story that has no beginning? 4 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:16,560 Speaker 1: This is Esperanza Esperanza Kintero. She is a housewife in 5 00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:18,920 Speaker 1: New Mexico, living in a small town. 6 00:00:19,079 --> 00:00:22,079 Speaker 2: When I was a child, it was called San Marcos. 7 00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:27,520 Speaker 2: The Anglos changed the name to Zinc Town, Zinctown, New Mexico, 8 00:00:29,280 --> 00:00:30,800 Speaker 2: U s A. 9 00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:35,680 Speaker 1: The image is black and white, dusty roads, clothes swaying 10 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:39,520 Speaker 1: on laundry lines in the desert, wind shacks with corrugated 11 00:00:39,560 --> 00:00:41,640 Speaker 1: tin roofs Our roots. 12 00:00:41,400 --> 00:00:46,120 Speaker 2: Go deep in this place, deeper than the pines, deeper 13 00:00:46,159 --> 00:00:47,400 Speaker 2: than the mine shafts. 14 00:00:47,960 --> 00:00:51,920 Speaker 1: Zinc Town is owned by a mining company. All the land, 15 00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:55,800 Speaker 1: all the houses, it all belongs to the company. 16 00:00:56,160 --> 00:01:00,040 Speaker 2: I am a miner's wife, eighteen years my husband and 17 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:04,600 Speaker 2: has given to that mind, living half his life with 18 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:06,479 Speaker 2: dynamite and darkness. 19 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:09,720 Speaker 1: This is how the film Salt of the Earth begins. 20 00:01:10,319 --> 00:01:13,800 Speaker 1: It's a portrait of a desolate place dominated by mining 21 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:19,160 Speaker 1: and by injustice. Mexican Americans in town don't have running 22 00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:22,759 Speaker 1: water in their homes, while Anglos, as the Mexicans call 23 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:26,120 Speaker 1: them do. Mexicans are more likely to be killed in 24 00:01:26,160 --> 00:01:30,280 Speaker 1: the mines because they're required to work alone, but Anglos 25 00:01:30,319 --> 00:01:34,280 Speaker 1: are allowed to work in pairs, and Mexicans are constantly 26 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:38,040 Speaker 1: put down by their bosses and treated like dirt. On 27 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:42,560 Speaker 1: this day, Ramon Esperanza's husband is considering whether to go 28 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:46,000 Speaker 1: on strike with the other Mexican American miners. They want 29 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:52,440 Speaker 1: to demand equal pay and safer working conditions. What happened 30 00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:55,720 Speaker 1: next in this small New Mexico mining town is not 31 00:01:55,800 --> 00:01:57,640 Speaker 1: just the plot of a dramatic film. 32 00:01:58,040 --> 00:01:58,840 Speaker 3: It's real. 33 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:05,200 Speaker 1: The miners, the discrimination, the dangerous working conditions, and the strike. 34 00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:13,880 Speaker 1: They're all based on a true story from Fudromedia and PRX. 35 00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:17,680 Speaker 1: It's Latino Usa I Maria no Rosa today, how a 36 00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:21,040 Speaker 1: strike in a small New Mexico town and the classic 37 00:02:21,160 --> 00:02:31,880 Speaker 1: film it inspired still resonate today. The film Salt of 38 00:02:31,919 --> 00:02:34,600 Speaker 1: the Earth was made only a year or so after 39 00:02:34,639 --> 00:02:38,360 Speaker 1: the strike and released in nineteen fifty four. It tells 40 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:41,240 Speaker 1: the story of how a group of Mexican American miners 41 00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:44,680 Speaker 1: took on a powerful mining company to demand their rights. 42 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:49,480 Speaker 1: Their fifteen month long strike includes some unexpected heroes, and 43 00:02:49,560 --> 00:02:53,440 Speaker 1: we'll explain that soon, but first you need to understand 44 00:02:53,520 --> 00:02:57,560 Speaker 1: how radical the film was for the nineteen fifties. Politicians 45 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:01,400 Speaker 1: at the time were determined to root out secret Communists 46 00:03:01,440 --> 00:03:05,360 Speaker 1: from Hollywood. There were even public interrogations of filmmakers. 47 00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:06,480 Speaker 4: What are you now? 48 00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:08,200 Speaker 5: Have you ever been a member of the Communist Party? 49 00:03:08,760 --> 00:03:12,399 Speaker 1: This is audio of the interrogation of filmmaker Herbert Bieberman 50 00:03:12,639 --> 00:03:15,680 Speaker 1: in front of the House on American Activities Committee. 51 00:03:15,840 --> 00:03:19,680 Speaker 6: Everyone even purposes to use this to disrupt the motion 52 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:22,720 Speaker 6: picture industry. 53 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:26,880 Speaker 1: Bieberman ended up serving time in prison and was blacklisted 54 00:03:26,919 --> 00:03:31,200 Speaker 1: in Hollywood because of his suspected Communist sympathies, and then 55 00:03:31,639 --> 00:03:34,200 Speaker 1: he made Salt of the Earth along with two other 56 00:03:34,280 --> 00:03:38,160 Speaker 1: men who had also been blacklisted. It seems pretty clear 57 00:03:38,200 --> 00:03:41,040 Speaker 1: that Salt of the Earth was an act of defiance. 58 00:03:41,480 --> 00:03:45,520 Speaker 1: The government had sanctioned the filmmakers for leftist sympathies, so 59 00:03:45,920 --> 00:03:49,200 Speaker 1: they made a movie that was unapologetically leftist. 60 00:03:50,960 --> 00:03:52,360 Speaker 3: In nineteen fifty. 61 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:55,720 Speaker 1: Four, the film was so controversial only a few theaters 62 00:03:55,760 --> 00:03:58,280 Speaker 1: across the US would show it. Salt of the Earth 63 00:03:58,400 --> 00:04:03,400 Speaker 1: was essentially buried from public site for decades, but in 64 00:04:03,440 --> 00:04:07,600 Speaker 1: the nineteen seventies, Chicano and feminist movements embraced the film. 65 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:10,440 Speaker 1: They saw it as an example of what social justice 66 00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:15,000 Speaker 1: movements could actually look like. We decided to send Latino 67 00:04:15,120 --> 00:04:19,039 Speaker 1: USA producer Saiah Gavedo to Grant County, New Mexico, to 68 00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:21,599 Speaker 1: uncover the history of what would come to be called 69 00:04:21,960 --> 00:04:25,640 Speaker 1: the Empire Zinc Strike, to find out how a sleepy 70 00:04:25,640 --> 00:04:30,279 Speaker 1: mining town erupted in protest, and if almost seventy years later, 71 00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:34,400 Speaker 1: anyone still remembers. Saiah Girido is going to take it 72 00:04:34,440 --> 00:04:35,160 Speaker 1: from here. 73 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:40,480 Speaker 5: Before I tell you about what things are like in 74 00:04:40,520 --> 00:04:43,200 Speaker 5: Grant County. Now, I'm gonna tell you the story about 75 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:46,240 Speaker 5: how things were, and we're going to start with Artudo Flores. 76 00:04:46,279 --> 00:04:49,520 Speaker 5: He was an important figure in the Empire Zinc strikes. Hi, 77 00:04:50,320 --> 00:04:54,600 Speaker 5: please come back, thank you? How Hey, how's it going. 78 00:04:55,560 --> 00:05:00,640 Speaker 7: My dad Arthur Floris. He's one hundred years old. One 79 00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:04,719 Speaker 7: of the first President's Local eight nineties. 80 00:05:04,960 --> 00:05:07,080 Speaker 5: The Local eight ninety is the name of the miners 81 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:09,240 Speaker 5: union in Grand County. By the way, we're gonna hear 82 00:05:09,279 --> 00:05:12,000 Speaker 5: about it a lot. And ur Tudo Floatis was a 83 00:05:12,120 --> 00:05:14,160 Speaker 5: union leader there in the nineteen fifties. 84 00:05:14,440 --> 00:05:21,080 Speaker 7: I have here, It's okay, I have okay. However, I 85 00:05:21,160 --> 00:05:25,839 Speaker 7: have no problem with talking. I made it or a 86 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:28,480 Speaker 7: hundred about to be dumb. 87 00:05:31,200 --> 00:05:32,880 Speaker 5: You seem like you're doing just fine. 88 00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:36,279 Speaker 7: What we have. 89 00:05:36,640 --> 00:05:39,680 Speaker 5: Ar Tudo sits in a wheelchair. His thin silver hair 90 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:42,840 Speaker 5: is neatly combed. His son, Larry, lays out a set 91 00:05:42,880 --> 00:05:44,320 Speaker 5: of old photographs on the table. 92 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:47,760 Speaker 7: Here's Dad, and here's some of the actors from the 93 00:05:47,800 --> 00:05:48,440 Speaker 7: movie clu. 94 00:05:48,440 --> 00:05:51,320 Speaker 5: Men walking out of the union hall. Women in flannels 95 00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:55,040 Speaker 5: and big brimmed hats, smiling triumphantly at the camera. There's 96 00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:57,680 Speaker 5: our Tuto. He has a full head of thick black hair. 97 00:05:58,320 --> 00:06:02,400 Speaker 5: The photo is labeled Local eight ninety Activists nineteen fifty three. 98 00:06:03,839 --> 00:06:06,080 Speaker 5: I've come here to speak with ar Tuto because he is, 99 00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:08,679 Speaker 5: as far as I can tell, one of the oldest 100 00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:13,080 Speaker 5: living witnesses of the Empire Zinc strikes. Since our Tudo 101 00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:15,120 Speaker 5: can't hear that well, I write questions down on a 102 00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:17,320 Speaker 5: piece of paper and hold them up for him to read. 103 00:06:18,440 --> 00:06:20,840 Speaker 5: Ur Tuto tells me about his childhood in Grant County. 104 00:06:21,400 --> 00:06:24,440 Speaker 5: The place in the movie Zinc Town, isn't real, but 105 00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:27,960 Speaker 5: the county is dotted with little mining towns. Ur Tuto's 106 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:30,359 Speaker 5: dad worked in the minds. His mother was a homemaker, 107 00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:33,040 Speaker 5: and ar Tudo was a smart kid. He loved to. 108 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:37,480 Speaker 7: Read before hours twelve. I had read the Bible three 109 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:41,000 Speaker 7: times I could. I'd like to read your mic. 110 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:43,520 Speaker 5: R Tuto tells me the story about a county wide 111 00:06:43,600 --> 00:06:46,680 Speaker 5: history competition when he was in sixth grade. He made 112 00:06:46,680 --> 00:06:49,279 Speaker 5: it to the very last round and then lost. 113 00:06:49,680 --> 00:06:54,200 Speaker 7: Teacher really sad came to me and she said, you won, 114 00:06:55,480 --> 00:06:58,480 Speaker 7: but you don't get at the number one because it 115 00:06:58,600 --> 00:07:02,159 Speaker 7: said they can't give it to a Mexican. That the 116 00:07:02,320 --> 00:07:06,320 Speaker 7: party of the company, and they were hired by the company. 117 00:07:07,400 --> 00:07:11,400 Speaker 7: A company at that time had a party that Mexicans 118 00:07:11,640 --> 00:07:13,000 Speaker 7: were treated differently. 119 00:07:13,400 --> 00:07:17,560 Speaker 5: Mexicans were treated differently, he says, and the company Artuto 120 00:07:17,680 --> 00:07:20,440 Speaker 5: is referring to is one of several companies that owned 121 00:07:20,480 --> 00:07:24,360 Speaker 5: mines across Grant County. A historian Elen R. Baker wrote 122 00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:26,400 Speaker 5: a book about all of this called On Strike and 123 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:29,160 Speaker 5: on Film, and she explained just how much power the 124 00:07:29,160 --> 00:07:32,240 Speaker 5: mining companies had. They owned the land and houses in 125 00:07:32,280 --> 00:07:36,360 Speaker 5: some towns, and in other cases actually owned whole towns themselves, 126 00:07:36,880 --> 00:07:39,200 Speaker 5: which meant they could discriminate all they wanted. 127 00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:43,880 Speaker 7: The company had, how that were the Anglos and shacks 128 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:44,920 Speaker 7: for the Mexicans. 129 00:07:45,200 --> 00:07:48,920 Speaker 5: Whole towns were divided white people or Anglos as they 130 00:07:48,960 --> 00:07:52,120 Speaker 5: called them, on one side and Mexicans on the other. 131 00:07:52,640 --> 00:07:55,280 Speaker 5: Anglos were given higher paying jobs in the minds, while 132 00:07:55,360 --> 00:07:59,480 Speaker 5: Mexicans were forced to work underground for less. As a 133 00:07:59,520 --> 00:08:01,920 Speaker 5: young man, Our Tuto Floats left for the military, and 134 00:08:01,960 --> 00:08:04,520 Speaker 5: when he came back, he started working at the mine nearby, 135 00:08:04,880 --> 00:08:07,920 Speaker 5: digging up zinc. The mine was run by the Empire 136 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:08,760 Speaker 5: Zinc company. 137 00:08:09,200 --> 00:08:12,920 Speaker 7: When I came back from a service that treated me terribly, 138 00:08:14,320 --> 00:08:17,480 Speaker 7: and I said, this is going to change. 139 00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:19,960 Speaker 5: Our Tuto was a member of the miners' union at 140 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:23,360 Speaker 5: Empire Zinc mine. Almost every mining Grant county had a union, 141 00:08:23,560 --> 00:08:25,520 Speaker 5: and so there were a lot of little unions, but 142 00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:29,480 Speaker 5: they didn't work together to negotiate contracts or better working conditions, 143 00:08:29,800 --> 00:08:32,720 Speaker 5: and their grievances were often ignored by the mining companies. 144 00:08:33,679 --> 00:08:37,640 Speaker 5: Then in the late nineteen forties, something changed. A representative 145 00:08:37,679 --> 00:08:40,480 Speaker 5: from the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers 146 00:08:40,559 --> 00:08:44,319 Speaker 5: showed up at Our Tuto's doorstep. His name was Clinton Jenks. 147 00:08:44,720 --> 00:08:47,560 Speaker 5: He asked, Our Tuto, are you the one who's been complaining. 148 00:08:48,080 --> 00:08:52,480 Speaker 7: I said yeah. I said, we're divided, we have no power. 149 00:08:53,320 --> 00:08:56,840 Speaker 7: They make fun of us. Now we are to do something. 150 00:08:57,679 --> 00:09:00,839 Speaker 7: He said yes, I needum help. 151 00:09:03,920 --> 00:09:07,000 Speaker 5: Ar Tudo worked with the national representative Jenks to bring 152 00:09:07,040 --> 00:09:10,240 Speaker 5: the unions together into a single, more powerful group that 153 00:09:10,280 --> 00:09:12,880 Speaker 5: would represent all of them. It was called the Local 154 00:09:12,920 --> 00:09:16,679 Speaker 5: Eate ninety. By nineteen forty eight, five of the unions 155 00:09:16,679 --> 00:09:19,240 Speaker 5: had signed on. They bought an old building in the 156 00:09:19,280 --> 00:09:24,520 Speaker 5: town of Deming to be their union hall. A couple 157 00:09:24,559 --> 00:09:27,760 Speaker 5: of years later, in nineteen fifty, the miners contracts at 158 00:09:27,800 --> 00:09:31,760 Speaker 5: Empires Inc. Mine came up for negotiation. This time, the 159 00:09:31,800 --> 00:09:35,360 Speaker 5: workers demanded a fifteen cent raise, two more paid holidays, 160 00:09:35,559 --> 00:09:38,920 Speaker 5: and a change to the payment system that favored white miners, 161 00:09:39,679 --> 00:09:44,400 Speaker 5: but the company refused to negotiate. That's when the men 162 00:09:44,760 --> 00:09:49,000 Speaker 5: decided to go on strike. The film Salt of the 163 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:52,880 Speaker 5: Earth depicts these true events with a little extra dramas 164 00:09:52,960 --> 00:09:53,240 Speaker 5: up to. 165 00:09:53,200 --> 00:10:00,040 Speaker 7: Your brothers see see Say Say Say Say Say say. 166 00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:06,040 Speaker 2: Great And so it began, much like any other strike. 167 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:09,960 Speaker 2: There would be no settlement, the company said, till the 168 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:11,439 Speaker 2: men returned to their jobs. 169 00:10:12,240 --> 00:10:14,640 Speaker 5: The men set up a picket line blocking the entrances 170 00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:18,320 Speaker 5: to the mine that carried signs from the surrounding hills. 171 00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:20,800 Speaker 5: They watched for scabs miners who were trying to cross 172 00:10:20,840 --> 00:10:28,679 Speaker 5: the picket line to work right, Empires In Company drove 173 00:10:28,760 --> 00:10:31,240 Speaker 5: miners from neighboring mines in the county to try to 174 00:10:31,240 --> 00:10:34,280 Speaker 5: cross the picket line to work. Others chose to come 175 00:10:34,280 --> 00:10:38,199 Speaker 5: on their own. There's some important context we have to 176 00:10:38,280 --> 00:10:41,920 Speaker 5: explain here. So remember this was a time of hysteria 177 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:46,960 Speaker 5: about communists infiltrating Hollywood, the government and unions, and in 178 00:10:47,040 --> 00:10:49,840 Speaker 5: nineteen forty seven Congress passed this law known as the 179 00:10:49,880 --> 00:10:54,120 Speaker 5: Taft Hartley Act. It redefined the relationship between unions and employers. 180 00:10:54,280 --> 00:10:57,480 Speaker 5: But most importantly for our story, it included this provision 181 00:10:57,600 --> 00:11:01,640 Speaker 5: requiring all union officers to sign a affidavit swearing that 182 00:11:01,720 --> 00:11:04,800 Speaker 5: they weren't communists, and if they didn't, they gave up 183 00:11:04,800 --> 00:11:07,040 Speaker 5: their union's right to have their grievances heard by the 184 00:11:07,040 --> 00:11:10,960 Speaker 5: federal government. The local eight ninety had refused to sign it, 185 00:11:11,480 --> 00:11:15,199 Speaker 5: and the company had no intention of compromising with Mexican miners, 186 00:11:15,440 --> 00:11:18,000 Speaker 5: especially those who might also be communists. 187 00:11:18,360 --> 00:11:19,679 Speaker 8: The strike did not end. 188 00:11:20,760 --> 00:11:24,680 Speaker 2: It went on and on into the fourth month, the 189 00:11:24,840 --> 00:11:29,640 Speaker 2: fifth the sixth, the company still refused to negotiate. 190 00:11:30,559 --> 00:11:33,839 Speaker 5: Then in the eighth month, lawyers from the Empire's In 191 00:11:33,960 --> 00:11:37,200 Speaker 5: Company approached a local judge. Our tudo flotists said they 192 00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:38,600 Speaker 5: took advantage of a loophole. 193 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:42,840 Speaker 7: They went to court and said the guide the arguer 194 00:11:43,360 --> 00:11:44,480 Speaker 7: closing a street. 195 00:11:44,960 --> 00:11:47,400 Speaker 5: The company said that the strikers should not be allowed 196 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:50,200 Speaker 5: to block the road, and the judge ordered the strikers 197 00:11:50,240 --> 00:11:53,120 Speaker 5: to stop. And because the local late ninety had refused 198 00:11:53,160 --> 00:11:56,480 Speaker 5: to sign those affidavits promising they weren't communists, they couldn't 199 00:11:56,480 --> 00:12:00,680 Speaker 5: ask the government to help mediate the dispute. They were stuck. 200 00:12:01,040 --> 00:12:04,400 Speaker 4: If we obey the court, the strike will be lost. 201 00:12:05,400 --> 00:12:07,640 Speaker 6: The scabs will move in as soon as our picket 202 00:12:07,679 --> 00:12:08,400 Speaker 6: line is gone. 203 00:12:09,679 --> 00:12:13,240 Speaker 9: If we defy the court, our pickets will be arrested. 204 00:12:14,080 --> 00:12:15,120 Speaker 4: The strike will be lost. 205 00:12:15,160 --> 00:12:19,600 Speaker 5: Anyway, what happens next ultimately changed the fate of this strike, 206 00:12:19,920 --> 00:12:23,360 Speaker 5: turning it from an ordinary event into a historic one. 207 00:12:23,880 --> 00:12:27,040 Speaker 4: If you read the courting engine carefully, you will see 208 00:12:27,040 --> 00:12:31,600 Speaker 4: that the only prohibits striking miners from picketing. We women 209 00:12:31,640 --> 00:12:35,600 Speaker 4: are not striking miners. We will take over your picket line. 210 00:12:37,520 --> 00:12:39,720 Speaker 5: Women had been involved in the strike since day one, 211 00:12:39,920 --> 00:12:42,480 Speaker 5: but they were often relegated to working behind the scenes, 212 00:12:42,760 --> 00:12:46,800 Speaker 5: cooking for the strikers, collecting donations, handing out leaflets. They 213 00:12:46,800 --> 00:12:49,920 Speaker 5: were the wives, sisters, and daughters of the miners, but 214 00:12:50,040 --> 00:12:53,200 Speaker 5: now they had an idea they would take over for 215 00:12:53,240 --> 00:13:01,840 Speaker 5: the men. Those miners were not come with the women's proposal. 216 00:13:01,720 --> 00:13:04,640 Speaker 6: And what would happen when the cops come and better 217 00:13:04,720 --> 00:13:08,640 Speaker 6: women up? Are we gonna stand there and watch them? No, 218 00:13:09,600 --> 00:13:12,439 Speaker 6: we'll take over anyway, and we'll be right back when 219 00:13:12,440 --> 00:13:18,960 Speaker 6: we started. Only word even more humiliated. Brothers, brothers, I 220 00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:20,480 Speaker 6: beg you don't allow that. 221 00:13:21,600 --> 00:13:27,239 Speaker 7: Mostly what shows in the film is the way they acted, 222 00:13:27,880 --> 00:13:32,320 Speaker 7: especially the guy who was supposed to have been the 223 00:13:32,440 --> 00:13:33,680 Speaker 7: leader of the strike. 224 00:13:34,360 --> 00:13:37,480 Speaker 5: This is maybe one of the most interesting tensions of 225 00:13:37,520 --> 00:13:40,559 Speaker 5: the Empire's in strike. The people who would have benefited 226 00:13:40,600 --> 00:13:43,640 Speaker 5: most from having the women take over the miners were 227 00:13:43,679 --> 00:13:47,200 Speaker 5: the ones who were against it. They were embarrassed. They 228 00:13:47,280 --> 00:13:49,679 Speaker 5: knew that if the women were out blocking the roads, 229 00:13:49,960 --> 00:13:52,120 Speaker 5: the men would have to stay home and take care 230 00:13:52,160 --> 00:13:52,720 Speaker 5: of the kids. 231 00:13:53,160 --> 00:13:57,000 Speaker 7: Clint asked for a road of the city instead of 232 00:13:57,320 --> 00:13:59,920 Speaker 7: just members, so the women. 233 00:13:59,679 --> 00:14:03,040 Speaker 5: Could Every adult living in town was given a vote 234 00:14:03,080 --> 00:14:06,200 Speaker 5: instead of just the union members, who were almost all men. 235 00:14:06,640 --> 00:14:08,679 Speaker 6: All those in favor that the sisters take hold of 236 00:14:08,760 --> 00:14:11,800 Speaker 6: the picket line were so signified by raising their hands 237 00:14:12,559 --> 00:14:16,199 Speaker 6: ah all those oppose. 238 00:14:17,400 --> 00:14:21,080 Speaker 5: Some men silently lifted their hands into the air, but 239 00:14:21,160 --> 00:14:21,960 Speaker 5: it wasn't enough. 240 00:14:22,240 --> 00:14:26,280 Speaker 6: The motion has carried a hundred and three to eighty five. 241 00:14:26,800 --> 00:14:29,720 Speaker 7: And they voted a overwhelming to re understrike. 242 00:14:30,320 --> 00:14:32,920 Speaker 5: The women would replace the men on the picket line. 243 00:14:33,200 --> 00:14:35,280 Speaker 5: And so they came. The women. 244 00:14:36,080 --> 00:14:39,320 Speaker 2: They came from Sinktown in the hills beyond, from other 245 00:14:39,440 --> 00:14:44,040 Speaker 2: mining camps ten twenty thirty miles away. Women we had 246 00:14:44,080 --> 00:14:47,200 Speaker 2: never seen before, women who had nothing to do with 247 00:14:47,240 --> 00:14:50,920 Speaker 2: the strike. Somehow they heard about the women's picot line 248 00:14:51,480 --> 00:14:52,120 Speaker 2: and they came. 249 00:14:53,160 --> 00:14:55,240 Speaker 5: Meanwhile, the men took over at home. 250 00:14:55,440 --> 00:14:57,760 Speaker 7: They had to take care of the house, and they 251 00:14:57,840 --> 00:15:02,080 Speaker 7: found out that the women worked as hard as they did, 252 00:15:02,840 --> 00:15:04,160 Speaker 7: and something. 253 00:15:04,600 --> 00:15:07,720 Speaker 5: This sudden change in social hierarchy wasn't easy for the 254 00:15:07,760 --> 00:15:10,800 Speaker 5: men to handle. In the film that includes the central 255 00:15:10,840 --> 00:15:13,040 Speaker 5: couple Esperanza and Ramond. 256 00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:14,840 Speaker 10: Have you learned nothing from this strike? 257 00:15:16,120 --> 00:15:18,120 Speaker 2: Why are you afraid to have me at your side? 258 00:15:18,520 --> 00:15:21,040 Speaker 2: Do you still think you can have dignity only if. 259 00:15:20,920 --> 00:15:24,200 Speaker 5: I have none? Talk up, Davis, after what you've been doing. 260 00:15:24,600 --> 00:15:29,000 Speaker 10: Yes, I took up dignity. The angler busses looked down 261 00:15:29,040 --> 00:15:32,200 Speaker 10: on you, and you hate them for staying your plate. 262 00:15:32,280 --> 00:15:35,760 Speaker 10: You're dirty Mexicans, that's what they tell you. But why 263 00:15:35,840 --> 00:15:39,200 Speaker 10: must you say to me staying your place? Do you 264 00:15:39,280 --> 00:15:40,480 Speaker 10: feel better having somewhere? 265 00:15:40,520 --> 00:15:40,760 Speaker 5: Lord? 266 00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:42,240 Speaker 2: And you shut up? 267 00:15:42,360 --> 00:15:45,280 Speaker 5: You're talking great who The women understood that they were 268 00:15:45,280 --> 00:15:48,040 Speaker 5: fighting for more than just the men's jobs. They were 269 00:15:48,040 --> 00:15:51,200 Speaker 5: fighting to be given respect, and despite the discomfort, the 270 00:15:51,240 --> 00:15:53,480 Speaker 5: reality was that the men did need the women to win, 271 00:15:53,760 --> 00:15:56,600 Speaker 5: and the company knew that too. According to the book 272 00:15:56,640 --> 00:15:59,240 Speaker 5: by Elean R. Baker, the local sheriff hired a gang 273 00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:02,480 Speaker 5: of new deputy is paid for by the empires In company. 274 00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:06,280 Speaker 5: Their job was to break up scuffles, but mostly they 275 00:16:06,320 --> 00:16:09,000 Speaker 5: intimidated the women. They would arrive at the picket line 276 00:16:09,040 --> 00:16:11,080 Speaker 5: and throw tear gas to try and disperse the crowd. 277 00:16:11,400 --> 00:16:13,920 Speaker 5: They tried to drive their cars through the picket line, 278 00:16:15,760 --> 00:16:17,800 Speaker 5: and at one point they even threw the women in 279 00:16:17,880 --> 00:16:27,760 Speaker 5: jail along with some of their children. And then in 280 00:16:27,880 --> 00:16:30,920 Speaker 5: January nineteen fifty two, over a year after the strike 281 00:16:31,000 --> 00:16:34,240 Speaker 5: had begun, the company finally gave in and agreed to 282 00:16:34,280 --> 00:16:37,960 Speaker 5: negotiate with the miners. They had won all thanks to 283 00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:39,680 Speaker 5: the women of Grant County. 284 00:16:39,760 --> 00:16:44,800 Speaker 7: So that strike did one thing as far as I'm concerned. 285 00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:50,720 Speaker 7: They showed that the women could also get in a 286 00:16:50,800 --> 00:16:56,040 Speaker 7: flight and be as militant as the men were and 287 00:16:56,520 --> 00:17:00,120 Speaker 7: when if they had to, and they did. 288 00:17:04,080 --> 00:17:06,000 Speaker 5: The men were able to go back to work thanks 289 00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:09,240 Speaker 5: to the women, and the miners received a wage increase, 290 00:17:09,440 --> 00:17:12,960 Speaker 5: vacation benefits, a pension plan, and a health plan. It 291 00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:16,000 Speaker 5: wasn't everything they asked for, but the miners had also 292 00:17:16,080 --> 00:17:19,120 Speaker 5: won the confidence that if they worked together, they could 293 00:17:19,160 --> 00:17:22,879 Speaker 5: be powerful, and soon the real story of the strike 294 00:17:23,080 --> 00:17:25,960 Speaker 5: was being turned into a film. Salts of the Earth 295 00:17:26,080 --> 00:17:28,920 Speaker 5: was shot on location in Grant County, New Mexico, using 296 00:17:28,960 --> 00:17:31,480 Speaker 5: many of the real miners and their families as actors. 297 00:17:32,240 --> 00:17:35,520 Speaker 5: Because the writer, producer, and director, the men you heard earlier, 298 00:17:35,640 --> 00:17:39,080 Speaker 5: Herbert Bieberman, had all been blacklisted in Hollywood, it was 299 00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:41,800 Speaker 5: not easy to finish the film, and when it was 300 00:17:41,840 --> 00:17:45,280 Speaker 5: released in nineteen fifty four, almost no theater would show it. 301 00:17:50,280 --> 00:17:52,640 Speaker 5: But in the decades that followed, Salts of the Earth 302 00:17:52,680 --> 00:17:55,720 Speaker 5: would be embraced by activists for its depiction of workers, 303 00:17:55,800 --> 00:18:00,600 Speaker 5: Chicanos and women's empowerment. In nineteen ninety two, the film 304 00:18:00,640 --> 00:18:03,800 Speaker 5: was included in the National Film Registry at the Library 305 00:18:03,840 --> 00:18:07,320 Speaker 5: of Congress, a symbol of its importance to American culture. 306 00:18:09,480 --> 00:18:12,280 Speaker 5: Two weeks after I talked with Artudo Flores, the local 307 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:15,040 Speaker 5: eight ninety leader, his son informed me that he had 308 00:18:15,080 --> 00:18:18,760 Speaker 5: passed away. He was one hundred years old. I found 309 00:18:18,800 --> 00:18:20,720 Speaker 5: myself coming back to the last thing he said to 310 00:18:20,760 --> 00:18:21,720 Speaker 5: me during the interview. 311 00:18:22,640 --> 00:18:27,200 Speaker 7: I've been reading up on history. I like to read 312 00:18:27,400 --> 00:18:32,119 Speaker 7: history alone, because I think that if you read history, 313 00:18:32,160 --> 00:18:39,400 Speaker 7: you'll find out how society's advanced, how they become powerful, 314 00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:49,160 Speaker 7: and how they dissolved and why. You know what dissolved societies. Greed? 315 00:18:51,480 --> 00:19:00,000 Speaker 5: Greed, he said, is what dissolved societies. At the end 316 00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:02,560 Speaker 5: of the Salts of the Earth film, Esperanza looks out 317 00:19:02,560 --> 00:19:07,240 Speaker 5: triumphantly at the town. Then I knew we. 318 00:19:07,200 --> 00:19:10,960 Speaker 2: Had one something they could never take away, something I 319 00:19:10,960 --> 00:19:14,119 Speaker 2: could leave to my children and they the salt of 320 00:19:14,200 --> 00:19:16,800 Speaker 2: the earth would inherit it. 321 00:19:19,720 --> 00:19:22,520 Speaker 5: The miner's victory, she seems to say, will mean a 322 00:19:22,560 --> 00:19:28,840 Speaker 5: better life for future generations. It's been nearly seventy years 323 00:19:28,840 --> 00:19:32,720 Speaker 5: since the empire zan strike, so what did future generations inherit? 324 00:19:33,280 --> 00:19:35,199 Speaker 5: I went to Grand County a few months ago to 325 00:19:35,240 --> 00:19:35,720 Speaker 5: find out. 326 00:19:41,359 --> 00:19:44,359 Speaker 1: Coming up say or discovers that the memory of a 327 00:19:44,400 --> 00:19:47,080 Speaker 1: successful movement is hard to keep alive. 328 00:19:48,320 --> 00:20:30,520 Speaker 3: Stay with us, Yes, hey, we're back. 329 00:20:31,160 --> 00:20:33,840 Speaker 1: So we've heard the story of a strike in New 330 00:20:33,880 --> 00:20:38,160 Speaker 1: Mexico's Grant County in the early nineteen fifties, and we've 331 00:20:38,160 --> 00:20:41,359 Speaker 1: heard about the film that it inspired, called Salt of 332 00:20:41,400 --> 00:20:45,040 Speaker 1: the Earth. Now producer Sarah Keaveto takes us back to 333 00:20:45,119 --> 00:20:48,280 Speaker 1: Grant County to find out how this strike is remembered 334 00:20:48,840 --> 00:20:50,160 Speaker 1: and what's been forgotten. 335 00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:53,719 Speaker 5: So before we start this journey, I want to give 336 00:20:53,760 --> 00:20:55,680 Speaker 5: you a lay of the land. You're going to hear 337 00:20:55,720 --> 00:20:59,680 Speaker 5: a lot of names. Silver City, Fyedro, San Rita, Hanover. 338 00:21:00,720 --> 00:21:03,119 Speaker 5: These are all towns in Grand County, all within about 339 00:21:03,119 --> 00:21:05,719 Speaker 5: fifteen or twenty minutes of each other. And we're going 340 00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:07,080 Speaker 5: to begin in the town of Bayard. 341 00:21:07,160 --> 00:21:07,600 Speaker 2: Do you doing it? 342 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:08,520 Speaker 7: How are you? 343 00:21:08,600 --> 00:21:11,200 Speaker 5: Terry Humble picks me up in front of the local library. 344 00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:13,919 Speaker 5: He was a kid when the strike happened and remembers 345 00:21:13,960 --> 00:21:16,960 Speaker 5: it pretty well. Later he became a miner like his 346 00:21:17,040 --> 00:21:19,359 Speaker 5: dad before him, and a member of the union, the 347 00:21:19,400 --> 00:21:23,000 Speaker 5: local eight ninety. Now he writes about the mines and 348 00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:25,760 Speaker 5: he gives guided tours of the county. Usually it's in 349 00:21:25,800 --> 00:21:28,520 Speaker 5: a bus, but today since it's just me, we take 350 00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:28,960 Speaker 5: his truck. 351 00:21:29,400 --> 00:21:32,560 Speaker 9: Well, it's close at let's go down to the Union Hall. First. 352 00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:38,480 Speaker 9: Of course, we're in downtown Baird, population pretty close to 353 00:21:38,560 --> 00:21:41,480 Speaker 9: three thousand, and it'll never get any bigger because it's 354 00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:44,120 Speaker 9: completely surrounded by mountains of company land. 355 00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:47,119 Speaker 5: From here I can see the low wheat colored hills 356 00:21:47,160 --> 00:21:50,320 Speaker 5: and slate rocks and hills of mining waste. They look 357 00:21:50,400 --> 00:21:54,480 Speaker 5: like brown beige and red aquarium sand. Trucks pass us 358 00:21:54,520 --> 00:21:57,160 Speaker 5: heading towards the mine. The men inside them wear neon 359 00:21:57,200 --> 00:21:59,879 Speaker 5: reflective vests. That thinks, seem pretty quiet this morning. 360 00:22:00,600 --> 00:22:04,160 Speaker 9: Yeah, yeah, it's a quiet little town. This is our 361 00:22:04,840 --> 00:22:08,200 Speaker 9: union hall here. This was the union hall also during 362 00:22:08,240 --> 00:22:11,280 Speaker 9: the assault of the earth strike. Mat if we get 363 00:22:11,280 --> 00:22:11,920 Speaker 9: out and look at it. 364 00:22:11,920 --> 00:22:12,200 Speaker 4: No not. 365 00:22:12,880 --> 00:22:15,960 Speaker 5: The Local eight ninety Union Hall is still the original 366 00:22:16,040 --> 00:22:19,400 Speaker 5: old building they bought back in the nineteen forties. It's 367 00:22:19,400 --> 00:22:21,960 Speaker 5: where the miners used to meet during the strike. It 368 00:22:22,040 --> 00:22:25,640 Speaker 5: was also a community center. It's where they held parties, baptisms, 369 00:22:25,720 --> 00:22:28,800 Speaker 5: and other celebrations. A mural on the front wall of 370 00:22:28,840 --> 00:22:31,919 Speaker 5: the building tells the story of the Empire Zinc strike. 371 00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:35,520 Speaker 5: There's even a painting of the women with their signs 372 00:22:35,880 --> 00:22:37,640 Speaker 5: dancing in a circle and laughing. 373 00:22:37,760 --> 00:22:39,720 Speaker 9: The women, of course, would get out and dance once 374 00:22:39,760 --> 00:22:42,399 Speaker 9: in a while, just for something to do, and carry 375 00:22:42,400 --> 00:22:43,119 Speaker 9: their placards. 376 00:22:46,560 --> 00:22:48,600 Speaker 5: If you go to open the door of the union hall, 377 00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:51,840 Speaker 5: you'll find it locked. Looking through the window, it's like 378 00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:54,680 Speaker 5: someone left for the day and never came back. There's 379 00:22:54,680 --> 00:22:57,080 Speaker 5: a Local eight ninety member jacket hanging on the wall, 380 00:22:57,440 --> 00:23:00,280 Speaker 5: filing cabinets full of documents, and a bottle of cold 381 00:23:00,320 --> 00:23:03,320 Speaker 5: medicine half full, still sitting on one of the desks. 382 00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:06,159 Speaker 9: And I used to have a key, but they changed 383 00:23:06,200 --> 00:23:07,040 Speaker 9: all locks. 384 00:23:07,520 --> 00:23:09,919 Speaker 5: In the years after the Empire z NG strike, the 385 00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:13,320 Speaker 5: Local eight ninety hit a rough patch financially. They burned 386 00:23:13,359 --> 00:23:15,760 Speaker 5: through a lot of their money defending themselves in court 387 00:23:15,840 --> 00:23:18,280 Speaker 5: for the refusal to sign that affidavit that confirmed they 388 00:23:18,280 --> 00:23:22,840 Speaker 5: weren't communists and for arrests made during the strike. But still, 389 00:23:23,119 --> 00:23:26,520 Speaker 5: Terry says, the union's base remained strong for decades. 390 00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:29,320 Speaker 9: And we would always have anywhere from I would say 391 00:23:29,320 --> 00:23:32,199 Speaker 9: thirty two one hundred people on our monthly meetings. Because 392 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:34,720 Speaker 9: it was a large union. I don't know it had 393 00:23:34,760 --> 00:23:37,920 Speaker 9: several hundred members. We would almost invariably have some of 394 00:23:37,960 --> 00:23:41,679 Speaker 9: the old timers that had retired years ago, but they 395 00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:45,680 Speaker 9: were so strong Union boy. They were there to give support, 396 00:23:45,760 --> 00:23:48,200 Speaker 9: and they would always get up and give a little 397 00:23:48,200 --> 00:23:50,680 Speaker 9: talk to the newcomers, you know, to let them know, says, 398 00:23:50,800 --> 00:23:53,320 Speaker 9: don't take what you've got for granted. You know you're 399 00:23:53,320 --> 00:23:56,439 Speaker 9: getting a fantastic wage and benefits. Don't take it for 400 00:23:56,480 --> 00:24:00,000 Speaker 9: granted because we had to win it for you. 401 00:24:00,119 --> 00:24:03,959 Speaker 5: The metal mining industry can be very unstable. When demand 402 00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:07,280 Speaker 5: is high, the mines hire more people. When prices dip, 403 00:24:07,520 --> 00:24:11,199 Speaker 5: companies layoff miners or even shut down their operations. In 404 00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:13,400 Speaker 5: two thousand and eight, hundreds of miners were laid off 405 00:24:13,440 --> 00:24:16,240 Speaker 5: here from the mines after copper prices went down under 406 00:24:16,280 --> 00:24:19,119 Speaker 5: two dollars a pound. And so even though the union 407 00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:23,280 Speaker 5: won important benefits for the miners, it couldn't entirely protect them. 408 00:24:23,840 --> 00:24:26,760 Speaker 5: The younger people in this town. Do you think know 409 00:24:26,840 --> 00:24:29,040 Speaker 5: much about the history of what has gone down here 410 00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:32,360 Speaker 5: in terms of the strikes and the union and the mind. 411 00:24:32,240 --> 00:24:37,000 Speaker 9: Ir regrettably no, The younger people had the benefits when 412 00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:39,520 Speaker 9: they started to work. They didn't have to go on 413 00:24:39,600 --> 00:24:42,080 Speaker 9: strike or do anything. They didn't have to negotiate to 414 00:24:42,080 --> 00:24:44,680 Speaker 9: get the benefits and they just figured they were there. 415 00:24:44,720 --> 00:24:47,879 Speaker 9: They took them for granted. So it's unfortunate, but the 416 00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:51,480 Speaker 9: younger generation does not know that much about the history 417 00:24:51,480 --> 00:24:53,120 Speaker 9: of the unions or seemed to care. 418 00:24:56,440 --> 00:24:59,600 Speaker 5: Unions in Grant County have followed the trend of unions 419 00:24:59,640 --> 00:25:03,240 Speaker 5: across the United States. In fact, rates of union membership 420 00:25:03,359 --> 00:25:07,119 Speaker 5: nationwide peaked in nineteen fifty four, just after the Empire 421 00:25:07,200 --> 00:25:10,159 Speaker 5: Zinc strikes. The number of people in unions has been 422 00:25:10,200 --> 00:25:13,800 Speaker 5: on the decline ever since. The way Terry tells it, 423 00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:16,200 Speaker 5: every company that went on to own minds in Grand 424 00:25:16,240 --> 00:25:19,080 Speaker 5: County tried to undercut the power of the union, and 425 00:25:19,160 --> 00:25:22,679 Speaker 5: every few years someone in the union would apply for decertification. 426 00:25:23,200 --> 00:25:26,960 Speaker 5: Basically that means shutting the union down. They never got 427 00:25:27,040 --> 00:25:31,200 Speaker 5: enough votes to pass it until twenty fourteen the certification 428 00:25:31,320 --> 00:25:35,119 Speaker 5: was brought to a vote again and it passed. That 429 00:25:35,600 --> 00:25:44,000 Speaker 5: was the end of the local late ninety Terry drives 430 00:25:44,080 --> 00:25:46,560 Speaker 5: us back up that same main street that runs through Bayard. 431 00:25:47,119 --> 00:25:49,760 Speaker 5: Along the way, he points out the Empire Zinc mind. 432 00:25:49,560 --> 00:25:52,520 Speaker 9: This is probably as close as you'll get to some mine. 433 00:25:52,960 --> 00:25:56,160 Speaker 5: Two years after the strike, Empire Zinc shut down operation 434 00:25:56,280 --> 00:25:59,160 Speaker 5: for a time, meaning many of those who had fought 435 00:25:59,160 --> 00:26:03,159 Speaker 5: for better conditions, there were now without jobs. Eventually, the 436 00:26:03,200 --> 00:26:09,399 Speaker 5: mine shut down for good in nineteen sixty seven. The 437 00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:13,159 Speaker 5: town that Terry and Artudo are from, Santa Rita, is 438 00:26:13,200 --> 00:26:16,680 Speaker 5: just a giant open mining pit. Now. Hanover and Fiedro, 439 00:26:16,920 --> 00:26:19,240 Speaker 5: the two towns where most of the Empire's inc miners 440 00:26:19,280 --> 00:26:22,560 Speaker 5: once lived, are now mostly empty except for a handful 441 00:26:22,600 --> 00:26:26,320 Speaker 5: of houses. But mining is still the largest employer in 442 00:26:26,359 --> 00:26:28,960 Speaker 5: the county. You don't have to look far for evidence 443 00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:29,280 Speaker 5: of that. 444 00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:36,359 Speaker 9: Now. Just six months ago that mountain was fifty feet taller. 445 00:26:37,200 --> 00:26:40,080 Speaker 9: That's Hanover Mountain, and that's what they're gonna they're knocking 446 00:26:40,119 --> 00:26:43,160 Speaker 9: it down all the way and hauling it over to 447 00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:46,280 Speaker 9: Santa Rita because it's full of copper. But that thing 448 00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:48,840 Speaker 9: was a lot taller six months ago. 449 00:26:49,840 --> 00:26:51,360 Speaker 5: They're literally moving mountains. 450 00:26:51,880 --> 00:26:54,520 Speaker 9: They are. And then when they get down at the 451 00:26:54,520 --> 00:26:57,800 Speaker 9: bottom and get rid of the mountain, if the copper continues, 452 00:26:57,840 --> 00:27:01,000 Speaker 9: which they think it does, it'll be an open just 453 00:27:01,040 --> 00:27:03,480 Speaker 9: like so of read. Yeah, they'll keep hauling it. Yep. 454 00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:05,640 Speaker 5: It's almost like an inverse mountains. 455 00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:07,639 Speaker 9: That's a good A good way to put it in 456 00:27:07,680 --> 00:27:08,679 Speaker 9: an inverse mountain. 457 00:27:09,760 --> 00:27:12,479 Speaker 5: I make one more stop with Terry. We arrive at 458 00:27:12,480 --> 00:27:15,200 Speaker 5: a bridge and get out. Tucked off on the side 459 00:27:15,200 --> 00:27:17,960 Speaker 5: of the bridge, there's a small cement block with a plaque. 460 00:27:18,520 --> 00:27:21,840 Speaker 9: Terry reads, this bridge is dedicated to the Mine Mill 461 00:27:21,920 --> 00:27:26,480 Speaker 9: Women's Auxiliary of nineteen fifty one fifty two. These brave 462 00:27:26,520 --> 00:27:28,600 Speaker 9: women took over the picket line. 463 00:27:28,960 --> 00:27:30,840 Speaker 5: The only sound on this little road is of the 464 00:27:30,840 --> 00:27:33,119 Speaker 5: hall trucks from the mines humming down the mountains in 465 00:27:33,160 --> 00:27:36,440 Speaker 5: the distance. This is where the women used to picket 466 00:27:36,640 --> 00:27:52,240 Speaker 5: during the strike. Terry says that when Salt of the 467 00:27:52,280 --> 00:27:55,040 Speaker 5: Earth was made, the strike scenes were filmed in hidden 468 00:27:55,080 --> 00:27:58,640 Speaker 5: places away in the hills where no one could see. 469 00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:01,119 Speaker 9: Because, Sir, if they came out here and tried to 470 00:28:01,119 --> 00:28:03,160 Speaker 9: make the movie, that people would show up and start 471 00:28:03,200 --> 00:28:05,080 Speaker 9: throwing rocks and stuff at them because there was so 472 00:28:05,200 --> 00:28:09,880 Speaker 9: much bad feelings against the union people. Even after this day, 473 00:28:10,600 --> 00:28:12,719 Speaker 9: you can talk to a local person that was alive 474 00:28:12,880 --> 00:28:16,160 Speaker 9: or involved in any way and you'll know in fifteen 475 00:28:16,240 --> 00:28:17,880 Speaker 9: twenty seconds which side they were on. 476 00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:20,679 Speaker 5: So it's still something that carries weight for folks. 477 00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:23,240 Speaker 9: Yes, it still has a stigma to it. Actually, they 478 00:28:23,240 --> 00:28:26,040 Speaker 9: were talking about making the Union Hall a little museum, 479 00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:30,760 Speaker 9: and I immediately got two phone calls from elderly Anglos 480 00:28:30,840 --> 00:28:33,520 Speaker 9: that said, what in the world are they trying to do? 481 00:28:33,560 --> 00:28:36,680 Speaker 9: They can't stir that stuff up. We've got to stop them. 482 00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:39,080 Speaker 9: And I mean that was just a year or so. 483 00:28:39,080 --> 00:28:43,160 Speaker 5: Ago, but the strike still has admirers. During one of 484 00:28:43,160 --> 00:28:46,520 Speaker 5: the anniversaries, Terry remembers seeing lots of Latinos, many of 485 00:28:46,520 --> 00:28:48,760 Speaker 5: them who had lived in the area but moved away. 486 00:28:49,320 --> 00:28:51,640 Speaker 5: They came back to pay their respects, and there were 487 00:28:51,680 --> 00:28:54,400 Speaker 5: also newcomers to the town who were curious about the history. 488 00:28:54,760 --> 00:28:58,640 Speaker 9: Boy one time, one of the Salt of the Earth anniversaries, 489 00:28:58,680 --> 00:29:00,640 Speaker 9: I think we had five buses and must have had 490 00:29:00,640 --> 00:29:03,160 Speaker 9: eleven cars following the buses, and people got here, and 491 00:29:03,680 --> 00:29:05,720 Speaker 9: we even had that time had a couple of the 492 00:29:05,960 --> 00:29:08,840 Speaker 9: old ladies that were on the picket line. One of 493 00:29:08,880 --> 00:29:10,520 Speaker 9: them just passed away a few days ago. 494 00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:14,240 Speaker 5: The woman who passed away just a few days before 495 00:29:14,280 --> 00:29:17,360 Speaker 5: I met Terry. Her name was one of Sierra. There's 496 00:29:17,400 --> 00:29:18,880 Speaker 5: a video of her from one of the Salts of 497 00:29:18,880 --> 00:29:22,320 Speaker 5: the Earth anniversaries, standing in front of this plaque, surrounded 498 00:29:22,320 --> 00:29:25,720 Speaker 5: by a small crowd. Wana is describing being taken to 499 00:29:25,800 --> 00:29:27,880 Speaker 5: jail and beaten by sheriff's deputies. 500 00:29:28,480 --> 00:29:32,960 Speaker 6: It's Hark and I hope that you don't feel the 501 00:29:33,040 --> 00:29:35,760 Speaker 6: way they used to feel from me when. 502 00:29:35,640 --> 00:29:37,800 Speaker 7: They took us over there, because tell you. 503 00:29:37,800 --> 00:29:45,600 Speaker 5: I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die for my people. This 504 00:29:45,920 --> 00:29:48,120 Speaker 5: is the only voice you'll hear in the story of 505 00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:50,000 Speaker 5: one of the women who walked the picket line in 506 00:29:50,040 --> 00:29:53,400 Speaker 5: the Empire's inc strikes, to tell you the truth. When 507 00:29:53,440 --> 00:29:55,880 Speaker 5: I went to New Mexico, I was mostly interested in 508 00:29:55,920 --> 00:29:58,840 Speaker 5: hearing from the women, but there were very few left. 509 00:29:59,440 --> 00:30:02,120 Speaker 5: There's one named Rachel who I tried to meet and 510 00:30:02,160 --> 00:30:04,560 Speaker 5: to call over and over, and she clearly didn't want 511 00:30:04,600 --> 00:30:08,000 Speaker 5: to talk. Remember, the strike happened in the nineteen fifties, 512 00:30:08,280 --> 00:30:11,280 Speaker 5: so most of those who participated are gone or dead. 513 00:30:11,360 --> 00:30:13,560 Speaker 9: The people that were old enough to actually be on 514 00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:16,480 Speaker 9: the picket line as adults. There may be one or 515 00:30:16,480 --> 00:30:19,040 Speaker 9: two of the women left, so I don't know if 516 00:30:19,080 --> 00:30:20,840 Speaker 9: anybody for sure that's alive. 517 00:30:24,840 --> 00:30:28,800 Speaker 5: Grant County is a shifting landscape, full of hollowed spaces, 518 00:30:28,880 --> 00:30:33,400 Speaker 5: visible and invisible, underground tunnels that go for miles, pits 519 00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:37,160 Speaker 5: that expand, mountains that shrink, and the collective memory that 520 00:30:37,200 --> 00:30:41,400 Speaker 5: once tied these communities together is also like the mountains 521 00:30:41,440 --> 00:30:47,320 Speaker 5: slowly disappearing. Later that night, I head to the house 522 00:30:47,320 --> 00:30:49,600 Speaker 5: of Willy and the Sola. He was a small kid 523 00:30:49,600 --> 00:30:51,880 Speaker 5: when the strike happened. I wanted to hear what Willy 524 00:30:51,960 --> 00:30:54,520 Speaker 5: remembered from the strike and his take on what's happened. 525 00:30:54,560 --> 00:31:00,720 Speaker 5: Since how are you The inside walls of these garage 526 00:31:00,800 --> 00:31:03,840 Speaker 5: are covered in bumper stickers that say things like wish 527 00:31:03,880 --> 00:31:07,160 Speaker 5: you were beer, or everyone needs something to believe in. 528 00:31:07,360 --> 00:31:10,920 Speaker 5: I believe I'll have another beer, will to meet you? 529 00:31:11,760 --> 00:31:18,480 Speaker 5: Or or Sunday Sunday. There's a little fire crackling in 530 00:31:18,520 --> 00:31:20,960 Speaker 5: the furnace, and Willie's friend Roger is with us. You 531 00:31:20,960 --> 00:31:22,600 Speaker 5: can hear him in the background sometimes. 532 00:31:22,760 --> 00:31:25,719 Speaker 11: Did you take him to that where he happened to strike? 533 00:31:27,120 --> 00:31:30,200 Speaker 11: Terry Humble? Okay, Terry Humble, Now that that's a good 534 00:31:30,240 --> 00:31:34,360 Speaker 11: information with Terry Humble. Yeah, you know, well, I can 535 00:31:34,440 --> 00:31:38,800 Speaker 11: tell you I was. I was really too small man, 536 00:31:38,880 --> 00:31:42,560 Speaker 11: you know. Now my dad work at the mine, etc. 537 00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:48,160 Speaker 11: But to Soto support, the women went over there. 538 00:31:48,760 --> 00:31:51,640 Speaker 5: Willy's mom was one of the women's strikers. He was 539 00:31:51,680 --> 00:31:54,480 Speaker 5: about six years old, and what he remembers most clearly 540 00:31:54,680 --> 00:31:57,480 Speaker 5: is the day that he was taken to jail. This 541 00:31:57,640 --> 00:31:59,800 Speaker 5: was when the sheriff's deputies were trying to intimidate the 542 00:31:59,840 --> 00:32:03,000 Speaker 5: way men if they were with their children. The kids 543 00:32:03,040 --> 00:32:04,760 Speaker 5: were also put behind bars. 544 00:32:05,360 --> 00:32:08,080 Speaker 11: My brother was a baby. My mom still has me 545 00:32:08,160 --> 00:32:13,760 Speaker 11: the arms and I remember, you know, this policeman yanked 546 00:32:13,760 --> 00:32:15,520 Speaker 11: me man. I thought he was gonna turn my arm 547 00:32:15,560 --> 00:32:19,240 Speaker 11: off and put me in the car that took us 548 00:32:19,280 --> 00:32:24,640 Speaker 11: to jail. But it was two damn crowded. I remember 549 00:32:24,720 --> 00:32:27,040 Speaker 11: a girl and they girl passed out. You know, because 550 00:32:27,200 --> 00:32:29,120 Speaker 11: we were small and were in the back. We could 551 00:32:29,160 --> 00:32:32,440 Speaker 11: bringthe with was not in affair, but the women took 552 00:32:32,480 --> 00:32:32,920 Speaker 11: care of me. 553 00:32:33,440 --> 00:32:35,720 Speaker 5: One of those women was want to see it the 554 00:32:35,720 --> 00:32:37,360 Speaker 5: striker who passed away the other day. 555 00:32:37,520 --> 00:32:38,800 Speaker 8: Something you don't forget. 556 00:32:39,760 --> 00:32:41,880 Speaker 5: Did you ever watch the film? Do you remember watching it? 557 00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:42,480 Speaker 8: The movie? 558 00:32:43,160 --> 00:32:46,320 Speaker 11: No, they want to see it. My mother they wanted 559 00:32:46,320 --> 00:32:48,800 Speaker 11: me to see it. My dad they wanted me to 560 00:32:48,800 --> 00:32:51,600 Speaker 11: see it. So we didn't get to see it, you know, 561 00:32:51,680 --> 00:32:53,720 Speaker 11: because they said this that going to help it. And 562 00:32:53,880 --> 00:32:58,600 Speaker 11: I make prother things worse because sometimes I would would 563 00:32:58,760 --> 00:33:04,800 Speaker 11: wake up yelly. No, if I want to see it nowadays, 564 00:33:06,120 --> 00:33:11,440 Speaker 11: maybe maybe I don't think it's just Springs memories, they 565 00:33:11,480 --> 00:33:17,480 Speaker 11: haven't gone. 566 00:33:19,800 --> 00:33:22,600 Speaker 5: Memory is a sensitive thing for Willie and for many 567 00:33:22,640 --> 00:33:24,920 Speaker 5: of those who lived through the strike. I've heard of 568 00:33:24,960 --> 00:33:28,120 Speaker 5: other children of strikers who've also never watched the film. 569 00:33:28,720 --> 00:33:32,640 Speaker 5: Even though the strike was ultimately successful, for the striker's children, 570 00:33:32,960 --> 00:33:35,480 Speaker 5: many of whom were too young to understand what was happening, 571 00:33:35,960 --> 00:33:38,959 Speaker 5: it was a scary time. Of course. In Grant County, 572 00:33:39,040 --> 00:33:42,440 Speaker 5: it's hard to avoid reminders of that moment, especially the 573 00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:45,920 Speaker 5: Minds themselves, whose abandoned entrances you can see from the road. 574 00:33:47,680 --> 00:33:50,200 Speaker 5: Willy also went on to work in the minds. 575 00:33:50,200 --> 00:33:53,240 Speaker 11: And the benefits were great, you know, because of the union. 576 00:33:53,360 --> 00:33:57,040 Speaker 11: They were bringing people, promoting people to be supervisors. 577 00:33:57,280 --> 00:33:59,600 Speaker 5: He says he was asked to be a supervisor three 578 00:33:59,680 --> 00:34:01,600 Speaker 5: times and he didn't want it. 579 00:34:01,760 --> 00:34:06,000 Speaker 11: But the strong union guys, all the timers talked to 580 00:34:06,040 --> 00:34:08,279 Speaker 11: me and said, look take it. He said, look what 581 00:34:08,280 --> 00:34:10,839 Speaker 11: they're doing to us, these people they're now you're phoning 582 00:34:10,960 --> 00:34:12,440 Speaker 11: around here, you know, and you. 583 00:34:12,680 --> 00:34:15,719 Speaker 5: Are so Finally Willie said, yes, a. 584 00:34:15,800 --> 00:34:20,040 Speaker 11: Mom quit talking to me. She called me ven diesel. 585 00:34:20,680 --> 00:34:25,759 Speaker 11: I don't know how in English soul. She was really disappointed. 586 00:34:26,280 --> 00:34:29,919 Speaker 5: Sold or sell out is what she called him WILLI 587 00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:35,200 Speaker 5: and his mom didn't speak for three years. In her eyes, 588 00:34:35,360 --> 00:34:37,520 Speaker 5: her son was cozying up right next to the same 589 00:34:37,560 --> 00:34:39,520 Speaker 5: people that I dragged her to jail when he was 590 00:34:39,520 --> 00:34:43,480 Speaker 5: a child. They were able to reconcile, but his mom 591 00:34:43,560 --> 00:34:44,760 Speaker 5: still talked about the union. 592 00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:47,680 Speaker 8: She always tells me, Okay, don't forget. 593 00:34:47,880 --> 00:34:50,239 Speaker 11: Don't forget your union in here. 594 00:34:55,880 --> 00:34:58,319 Speaker 5: Willie says his children didn't show much interest in the 595 00:34:58,360 --> 00:35:00,799 Speaker 5: history of the strike, and he encouraged them to get 596 00:35:00,840 --> 00:35:03,320 Speaker 5: an education so they wouldn't have to work in the mines, 597 00:35:03,680 --> 00:35:05,560 Speaker 5: so they could have the kind of freedom he didn't have, 598 00:35:06,080 --> 00:35:16,040 Speaker 5: including the freedom to forget. On my last day in 599 00:35:16,080 --> 00:35:18,800 Speaker 5: Grant County, Mary Lou Chavez takes me to a cemetery 600 00:35:18,800 --> 00:35:21,360 Speaker 5: in the town of Fierro. It's one of the towns 601 00:35:21,400 --> 00:35:24,320 Speaker 5: where many of the miners from the empire Zin strike lived. 602 00:35:24,920 --> 00:35:28,400 Speaker 5: It's mostly abandoned now. In my search for people who 603 00:35:28,480 --> 00:35:30,879 Speaker 5: remembered the strike, Mary Lou is one of the last 604 00:35:30,960 --> 00:35:34,200 Speaker 5: names on my list. She's wearing sweatpants and a hoodie 605 00:35:34,280 --> 00:35:37,520 Speaker 5: with Minnie Mouse printed on the back. Mary Lou reminds 606 00:35:37,560 --> 00:35:39,840 Speaker 5: me there's a funeral tomorrow, the one for one of 607 00:35:39,920 --> 00:35:42,239 Speaker 5: Sierra the striker who passed away the other day. 608 00:35:42,880 --> 00:35:46,240 Speaker 8: These ladies they're going to marry tomorrow to her brothers 609 00:35:46,320 --> 00:35:51,160 Speaker 8: got killed in the mine. I want to see their graves. 610 00:35:51,920 --> 00:35:53,759 Speaker 5: Mary Lou's a part of a committee in charge of 611 00:35:53,800 --> 00:35:56,439 Speaker 5: the upkeep of the cemetery and the church, the last 612 00:35:56,440 --> 00:35:58,440 Speaker 5: two monuments of what used to be fiedro. 613 00:35:58,880 --> 00:36:02,080 Speaker 8: Some does had just come and walk around the cemetery 614 00:36:02,239 --> 00:36:07,359 Speaker 8: and the memories are get here. I wish those old 615 00:36:07,480 --> 00:36:08,399 Speaker 8: days were back. 616 00:36:09,160 --> 00:36:11,520 Speaker 5: She remembers how they used to leave their doors unlocked, 617 00:36:11,800 --> 00:36:14,320 Speaker 5: how the neighborhood kids would dart around each other's houses, 618 00:36:14,480 --> 00:36:18,560 Speaker 5: playing cowboys and Indians. The cemetery is freckled with worn 619 00:36:18,560 --> 00:36:22,440 Speaker 5: down tombstones and crosses. A big metal Jesus watches over 620 00:36:22,480 --> 00:36:25,640 Speaker 5: the place. From here, you can still hear the sound 621 00:36:25,680 --> 00:36:27,480 Speaker 5: of trucks coming down from the mine. 622 00:36:28,000 --> 00:36:33,440 Speaker 8: See nineteen forty seven. 623 00:36:34,040 --> 00:36:35,760 Speaker 5: We approach a set of graves. 624 00:36:37,760 --> 00:36:41,000 Speaker 8: And the sister is going to get buried here tomorrow. 625 00:36:41,680 --> 00:36:44,319 Speaker 5: She points to a little plot of unoccupied earth where 626 00:36:44,360 --> 00:36:47,520 Speaker 5: Wana will be buried. Ask her whether she thinks the 627 00:36:47,560 --> 00:36:50,400 Speaker 5: next generation will take on the upkeep of the cemetery 628 00:36:50,400 --> 00:36:51,240 Speaker 5: when she's gone. 629 00:36:51,640 --> 00:36:56,520 Speaker 8: We hope, so, we hope so because nobody have to 630 00:36:56,560 --> 00:36:56,919 Speaker 8: do it. 631 00:36:58,960 --> 00:37:01,080 Speaker 5: Mary Lou tells me she plans to be buried in 632 00:37:01,160 --> 00:37:04,279 Speaker 5: the cemetery too, surrounded by the people she grew up with, 633 00:37:04,840 --> 00:37:07,879 Speaker 5: the miners and strikers, the kids she used to play with. 634 00:37:11,440 --> 00:37:13,919 Speaker 5: Every social movement has to contend with what the next 635 00:37:13,960 --> 00:37:16,840 Speaker 5: generation will do with its victory, and Grant County is 636 00:37:16,880 --> 00:37:20,640 Speaker 5: no different. What the strikers fought for was better wages 637 00:37:20,680 --> 00:37:23,920 Speaker 5: and working conditions, but in another sense, they fought for 638 00:37:23,960 --> 00:37:27,479 Speaker 5: the future of their children. And those children the salt 639 00:37:27,520 --> 00:37:29,960 Speaker 5: of the earth did inherit something that could never be 640 00:37:30,000 --> 00:37:35,440 Speaker 5: taken away. Choices to stay or to leave, to keep 641 00:37:35,480 --> 00:37:38,080 Speaker 5: the union, or not to work in the mines, or 642 00:37:38,160 --> 00:37:42,560 Speaker 5: not to remember or forget. And what the next generation 643 00:37:42,719 --> 00:37:47,080 Speaker 5: does with those choices their inheritance will be entirely up 644 00:37:47,120 --> 00:37:58,959 Speaker 5: to them. 645 00:37:59,080 --> 00:38:03,640 Speaker 1: Our things to Pretty Ducerquevedo for reporting this story. Special 646 00:38:03,680 --> 00:38:07,800 Speaker 1: thanks to Sarah Maloni, Sonya Dixon, Roger Duarte, Michelle Kels, 647 00:38:08,080 --> 00:38:11,400 Speaker 1: Larry Flordes, and Ellen R. Baker, who wrote the book 648 00:38:11,719 --> 00:38:15,839 Speaker 1: On Strike and on Film Mexican American families and blacklisted 649 00:38:15,880 --> 00:38:19,239 Speaker 1: filmmakers in Cold War America. And if you're interested in 650 00:38:19,320 --> 00:38:22,239 Speaker 1: learning more about the strike. You can read testimonials from 651 00:38:22,280 --> 00:38:25,840 Speaker 1: strikers and their families online at the Salt of the 652 00:38:25,880 --> 00:38:40,080 Speaker 1: Earth Recovery Project, linked on our website. This episode was 653 00:38:40,080 --> 00:38:43,040 Speaker 1: produced by Sarah Kevelo and edited by Alison McCadam. 654 00:38:43,280 --> 00:38:45,040 Speaker 3: It was mixed by Stephane lebau Di. 655 00:38:45,160 --> 00:38:50,760 Speaker 1: Latino USA team includes Andrea Lopez Gruzsado, Marta Martinez, Daisy Condreras, 656 00:38:50,800 --> 00:38:57,080 Speaker 1: Mike Sargent, Julietta Martinelli, Victoria Estrada, Renaldo Leanos, Junior Alejandra Salasad, 657 00:38:57,320 --> 00:39:01,000 Speaker 1: Patricia Subaran, and Julia Rocha, with help from Raulberees. 658 00:39:01,200 --> 00:39:05,080 Speaker 3: Our editorial director is Jujo Ricatore. Our senior engineer is 659 00:39:05,160 --> 00:39:06,080 Speaker 3: Julia Caruso. 660 00:39:06,320 --> 00:39:09,800 Speaker 1: Our associate engineers are gabriel Le Bayez and jj Krubin. 661 00:39:10,120 --> 00:39:13,520 Speaker 1: Our marketing manager is Luis ja Our theme music was 662 00:39:13,520 --> 00:39:18,160 Speaker 1: composed Lysagie Luinos. I'm your host and executive producer Marguerno Hoosa. 663 00:39:18,520 --> 00:39:21,040 Speaker 1: Join us again on our next episode, and remember you 664 00:39:21,040 --> 00:39:23,480 Speaker 1: can find us on all of your social media and 665 00:39:24,080 --> 00:39:26,439 Speaker 1: not tea Yes estat Approxima Joe. 666 00:39:31,920 --> 00:39:36,400 Speaker 12: Latino USA is made possible in part by the Ford Foundation, 667 00:39:37,040 --> 00:39:40,960 Speaker 12: working with visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide, 668 00:39:41,600 --> 00:39:45,759 Speaker 12: The John D. And Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the 669 00:39:45,840 --> 00:39:52,279 Speaker 12: Heising Simons Foundation Unlocking knowledge, opportunity and possibilities. More at 670 00:39:52,520 --> 00:39:54,239 Speaker 12: hsfoundation dot org. 671 00:39:58,560 --> 00:40:00,719 Speaker 6: Where are you there? Say? 672 00:40:00,840 --> 00:40:03,520 Speaker 3: Are you ready say