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My project involved research into the many intertwined factors of life in Farm Workers’ Communities, including perceptions of power and control, race and class, and constructions of the ideal American childhood in all aspects of daily life. My research unveiled a network of local, federal, and individual examples of discrimination and backlash, but also many examples of the benefits that helped families who thought they had nothing left. The sense of community created within the FSA’s Farm Workers’ Communities is unique both to the program and between each camp themselves, creating complex spatial realities for the children who lived and experienced life within them. Ultimately, while the FSA’s programs offered critical support to underserved populations, their broader goals of assimilation and the construction of a socioeconomically and culturally exclusive ideal failed to fully address the needs of diverse migrant communities. This only further reveals the tension between the intended reforms of the FSA and the systemic inequalities embedded in American society and politics during this period. The decline of funding and services by the 1940s reflected a broader societal retreat from comprehensive support for migrant families, leaving many of their struggles unresolved. 

One aspect of my research that I would like to further indulge in is what happened to these camps after the decline of the FSA, and if similar circumstances regarding my themes existed there as well. During my research, I read that in the recent years after the federal government lost jurisdiction over the program, many Farm Workers’ Communities were delegated to the states for state-level use in similar programs or used during World War II. I am also curious to know if a program like this would be more successful in modern times. The scope of federal-level aid has increased greatly since the 1930s, and many people rely on government aid to get by. Although today the state of Vermont, for example, has the General Assistance Housing program to supply housing and resources for those in need, I wonder if a program like the FSA’s Farm Workers’ Communities could feasibly exist in our time, especially considering the decline of small family-owned farms and agriculture as an industry. History is one of the most influential factors in deciding the future of a nation, and although mistakes were made in the execution of the program, I believe the FSA’s Farm Workers’ Communities set a precedent displaying the ability of our government to aid its most needy populations.