ELKHART COUNTY, Ind. - The Elkhart County Historical Museum will present the History Detective: The Bracero Program, on Thursday, May 11 at 7:00 p.m., and a virtual encore on Friday, May 12 at 1:00 p.m.

The Thursday showing will be at the Elkhart County Historical Museum located at 304 West Vistula St. in Bristol.

The event is free and pre-registration is only required for the virtual program, which will be livestreamed on Friday. You can register for the virtual event here.

The Bracero program was a federal program that began during World War II to address work shortages.

The United States and Mexico entered in agreements to send workers from Mexico to the United States to work on farms throughout the country and expanded into the industrial sector lasting until 1964.

In total, the Bracero program brought over 4 million workers to the United States.

The History Detective: The Bracero Program presentation will connect this national program to the establishment of Elkhart County’s Latino community.

“The first generation of the community is tied to workers that came to this area year after year as part of the Bracero program,” said Curator of Education Patrick McGuire.

McGuire also stated, “Becoming comfortable with the region, some workers decided to stay, and the community grew until today people that identify as being Hispanic or Latino make up about 20% of the population of Elkhart County.”

You can also visit the Elkhart County Parks website for further updates and details on this event.