The Mexican Migrant Experience

What did the Lomaxes want to learn about Latino migrants during the Great Depression from their songs? John and Ruby Lomax were aware of the plight of the Hispanic migrants, and recorded some of their songs in the late 30s. Never accepted in America, never accepted in Mexico when local governments deported them, and subject to unjust deportations, the Mexican-Americans of the 1930s became an entire “lost Generation… people that were lost in Mexico, people without the documentation, people that were denied their right to a life as an American.” ¹ Even so, Mexican immigrants had a significant stake in America, as they “had long been an integral part of agricultural production in the United States and were not newcomers on the scene even in 1940. In fact, when the Dust Bowl families arrived in California looking for work, the majority of migrant farm laborers were either Latino or Asian, particularly of Mexican and Filipino descent.” ²

Mexican migrants had to transition from “workers [that] were regarded as essential” during the 20s to aliens, “regarded as foreign… unwanted… not supposed to be here” during the 30s. Families had to cope with the greater scale of deportations that followed. All this translates into the songs John and Ruby Lomax recorded as a shocking chipperness. The migrant lullabies and children’s melodies are playful, frequently implementing sunny patters ³ and colourful lyrics ⁴. The Lomaxes and the Mexican singers chose to record the songs from the latter’s childhoods, songs designed to convey happiness and positivity to the youth, having nothing to do with ugliness or Mexican migrants’ situation. Buoyant songs glow ⁵ when compared to the African-American lullabies the Lomaxes recorded, which, perhaps in a truer but more weathered reflection of the era, are far more bluesy and sombre and quiet. ^{6 7}

John and Ruby Lomax, along with the migrants who lent their voices for the project, seemed to want to convey the good feelings of a traditional childhood, not the very real malaise that came from the Great Depression. The lullabies of the migrants speak of sweet fruits and hugs ⁸ and covering up from the cold, a joyful little habitat away from the oppression buffeting Mexicans from all sides. I believe the folk lullabies the Lomaxes wanted the nation to remember are keenly related to the popular escapism propagated by the broader arts, performing the role of “a lifeline as well as a pleasant diversion, a source of optimism and energy as well as peerless insight” for underprivileged Mexican families. ⁹

1. Balogh, Brian, Nathan Connolly, Joanne Freeman, Ed Ayers, and Francisco Balderrama. 2018. “Border Patrols.” Podcast. BackStory (blog). November 2, 2018. https://www.backstoryradio.org/shows/border-patrols/.
2. Fanslow, Robert. 1998. “The Migrant Experience | Articles and Essays | Voices from the Dust Bowl: The Charles L. Todd and Robert Sonkin Migrant Worker Collection, 1940-1941 | Digital Collections | Library of Congress.” Web page. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. April 6, 1998. https://www.loc.gov/collections/todd-and-sonkin-migrant-workers-from-1940-to-1941/articles-and-essays/the-migrant-experience/.
3. “A La Ru Ru Ta Ta”, John and Ruby Lomax 1939 Southern States Recording Trip (AFC 1939/001), Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/lomaxbib000036/
4. “Hebritas, Hebritas de Oro”, John and Ruby Lomax 1939 Southern States Recording Trip (AFC 1939/001), Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/lomaxbib000653/
5. “Tapame”, John and Ruby Lomax 1939 Southern States Recording Trip (AFC 1939/001), Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/lomaxbib000034/
6. “Go to Sleepy”, John and Ruby Lomax 1939 Southern States Recording Trip (AFC 1939/001), Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/lomaxbib000442/
7. Note: MP3 audio was taken from this video in absence of downloadable MP3 from the LOC website.
8. “Naranja Dulce Limon Partido”, John and Ruby Lomax 1939 Southern States Recording Trip (AFC 1939/001), Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/lomaxbib000142/
9. Dickstein, Morris. 2009. “How Song, Dance and Movies Bailed Us out of the Depression.” Los Angeles Times. April 1, 2009. https://www.latimes.com/la-oe-dickstein1-2009apr01-story.html.