Mosaic Home Spanish mosaic Japanese mosaic
Immigration in Oregon
Unit 2: Past and present immigrants from Mexico
Introduction
 

This unit examines two waves of immigration from Mexico to Oregon. The first group arrived in the years following the Second World War under the Bracero program. The second group began arriving in the 1980’s and continues to the present day. These activities allow student to gain a historical perspective through chronological ordering. Also, they investigate the specific demographic differences between the groups, in terms of occupations held, settlement patterns, and cultural impact on the state.

This history also serves as a “case study” that introduces students to the general phenomena that characterize human migration. Students learn about the basic “push” and “pull” factors that motivate migration and study details of the consequences of displacement on peoples and their communities. Changes in demographics have an impact on every aspect of human activity, language, and culture. Specifically, the unit is designed to lead students to explore the following key questions:

  • When did immigrants from Mexico first come to Oregon? What motivated them to leave their home communities?
  • Where in the state have Spanish-speaking immigrants settled, and what factors influenced their final destination?
  • How have successive waves of immigration from Mexico changed over the past half century? What factors influence their continued arrival and movement?
  • What cultural footprints have Spanish-speaking immigrants left (or are now leaving) on the state?

This historical perspective highlights the persistent presence of Spanish speakers in the Northwestern US, and the study of the circumstances of each wave of migration should serve to illuminate changing attitudes towards immigration in the different periods.

Summative Assessment
 

To synthesize and personalize all they have learned about Mexican immigration to Oregon, students prepare an illustrated geneological tree of a Mexican family (hypothetical or based on interviews with an immigrant family in the community). An oral presentation based on the family tree elicits the language functions of past narration, extensive description, and comparisons between present and past time frames; the content of the presentation includes descriptions of family members and their origins, reasons for coming to the U.S., and an explanation of why they ended up where they did.


Activities      
Activity 1 Timeline La línea cronológica Download Word version
Activity 2 Mexican population in Oregon:
A historical perspective
La población mexicana en Oregon: Un vistazo histórico Download Word version
Activity 3 Reading: The first Mexicans in Oregon Lectura: Los primeros mexicanos en Oregon Download Word version
Activity 4 Reading: Recent arrivals Lectura: Llegadas más recientes Download Word version
Activity 5 Mexican symbols Símbolos mexicanos Download Word version
Activity 6  The story of a Mexican family

La historia de una familia mexicana

Download Word version

       
Web and Literature Sources
 
Map resources
http://worldatlas.com/webimage/testmaps/maps.htm
Migration basics
http://www.scalloway.org.uk/popu14.htm
Country profiles
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/country_profiles/default.stm
On-line dictionary
http://www.diccionarios.com
Demographic information
http://www.fairus.org/Research/Research.cfm?ID=1519&c=9
http://www.census.gov
http://www3.uakron.edu/ul/subjects/demographics.html
http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/collections/stats/histcensus/
Atlas of Oregon, second edition, University of Oregon Press, 2001 (ISBN 0-87114-101-9)
   
Back to Immigration introduction