"A Small Victory in a Battle That Should Have Not Been Necessary": Rebecca Flores and the Struggle for Field Sanitation in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas

This study examines the struggle for field sanitation in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, where it was waged in the late 1970s and early 1980s by United Farm Workers director Rebecca Flores and her allies. The first section examines the harsh living and working conditions experienced by farm workers there. The second provides a brief biographical sketch of Flores, a daughter of farm workers, from her years as a college student to her role as the leader of the Texas UFW. The third examines the struggle for field sanitation by Flores and the UFW, their success in changing state laws, and their subsequent efforts to enforce compliance with these changes.