439. LONG ISLAND MIGRANT LABOR CAMPS: DUST FOR BLOOD

Mark A. Torres via Zoom

During World War II, a small group of potato farmers on the eastern end of Long Island opened the first documented migrant labor camp in Suffolk County at a lake cottage in the hamlet of Peconic to eventually house approximately 100 farmworkers from the island of Jamaica. Within 15 years, more than one hundred labor camps of varying size and sophistication, would spring up throughout the county.

Each year, thousands of migrant farm workers came to the area to fulfill an important role in the multi-million-dollar agricultural industry of Long Island. They were lured by promises of good wages and decent housing, but instead were often cheated out of pay and housed in deadly slum-like labor camps. They were preyed upon by corrupt camp operators and entrapped in a feudal system of manipulation and abuse which left them irrevocably mired in debt in what was described as a “20^th Century form of slavery.” All of this took place less than 100 miles from New York City within one of the most scenic and affluent counties in the United States.

Long Island Migrant Labor Camps: Dust for Blood is the riveting, comprehensive and never-before-told true story about the migrant labor camps in Suffolk County from their inception during World War II, through their heyday in 1960, and culminating with their steady decline towards the end of the 20th century. This class will chronicle the many aspects of this dark history, including the human suffering of the camps’ inhabitants, the cause and effect of these camps, and the factors which led to their eventual decline. This course will also feature the heroic efforts of special individuals who, in their own unique way, were outspoken critics of the deplorable conditions of these camps and fought to improve the lot of migrant workers on the eastern end of Long Island during this time period.

10:30-12 noon                                                                                                 1 Session

Monday, February 17                                                                                     Fee:  $25

[A Zoom link will be sent to you prior to each session, typically on the day before your class and the morning of your class.  If you have any questions or need help getting online, feel free to call us at 516-480-5733 and we’ll get right back to you with assistance.]

ABOUT THE LECTURER

Mark A. Torres holds a law degree from Fordham University School of Law, a bachelor’s degree in history from New York University, and is currently an adjunct professor of Labor Studies at Hofstra University.  He is the author of Long Island Migrant Labor Camps: Dust for Blood (2021); two crime novels, A Stirring in the North Fork (2015) plus Adeline (2019); and a labor union-related children’s book titled Good Guy Jake (2017).  Mark is also a labor and employment attorney who tirelessly represent thousands of unionized workers and their families throughout the Greater New York area. His commitment to the labor movement spans more than thirty years.