Hi all, glad to see the interest here!! I'll try and shed some light on
a few of the questions raised on these past threads:

-- The newspapers were not correct. It's those kinds of
generalizations that make for bad reporting and perpetuation of
falsities. Only some of the passengers were here as braceros,
others were here "illegally," and still others were only
considered "illegal" because they decided to leave the
abuse of one farmer for better treatment at another,
and this move would make them "illegal." It wasn't as black
and white as the papers portrayed it at the time.

-Woody's gripe wasn't necessarily that they were
being "deported," or why, so much as the fact that they
we're not given their names, in the papers or in
death. We know that names meant a lot to Woody
because he wrote a few songs that also raised this
concern, Sinking of the Ruben James, and
Ballads of Sacco and Vanzetti.

- As to my good friend Lance's amazing rendition
of the song, his role in this story was that he helped,
along with Fresno Diocese and myself, to
raise the money so that we could install the new headstone.
Contrary to some reports, the actual research to locate
the names and people were the product of my own work,
as I tell about in my forthcoming book, All They Will Call You.

- As for readings in the NYC area, yes, we do have plans
underway, but it likely won't be until fall 2017 the soonest.

Thank you all again, especially Mudcat for this wonderful forum
where I made the initial critical connection with Diane V, which
got the ball rolling in my research! Thank you Joe!

Tim