Matthew J. (Matt) Garcia was born in Upland, California. A third-generation Californian, Dr. Garcia is a historian of agriculture, immigration, labor, and ethnicity in twentieth-century California. He received his B.A. in History from the University of California at Berkeley (1991) and his Ph.D. in History from the Claremont Graduate School (1997) with a concentration on Mexican American history, immigration history, history of California, history of the American West, American popular culture, and labor history. His research focuses mainly on Latin American, Latina/o, and Mexican American history and culture, agriculture, and labor. These research interests also have a more direct and personal connection, since much of Dr. Garcia’s family history is rooted in the rural farming areas of Southern California. His maternal grandfather worked for the Sunkist Company as a data analyst while his father’s parents worked in the California fields owned by Sunkist. Dr. Garcia is currently the Ralph and Richard Lazarus Professor of History, Latin American, Latino, and Caribbean Studies, and Human Relations at Dartmouth College, as well as the chair of Latin American, Latino, and Caribbean Studies.

Dr. Garcia’s books and articles have explored the origins of inequality in the U.S. food labor system, with a specific interest in the struggles of immigrant farm laborers in rural California. His first book, “A World of Its Own: Race, Labor, and Citrus in the Making of Greater Los Angeles, 1900-1970” (2001), traced the history of inter-ethnic cooperation among citrus laborers in the Pomona and San Gabriel Valleys. In 2012, Dr. Garcia edited the volume “Mapping Latina/o Studies for the Twenty-First Century,” a series of essays exploring the field of Latina/o Studies. Dr. Garcia’s second book, “From the Jaws of Victory: The Triumph and Tragedy of Cesar Chavez and the Farm Worker Movement” (2012) is a comprehensive history of the rise and fall of the United Farm Workers, for which he won the Taft Award for Best Book in Labor History. In 2017, he co-edited the volume “Food Across Borders,” an essay collection on contemporary food cultures. Garcia’s peer-reviewed articles have appeared in the Journal of American History, Boom: A Journal of California, and Gastronomica: A Journal of Food and Culture.

In addition to his research and writing activities, Dr. Garcia is the former outreach director and co-primary investigator for the Bracero Archive Project, which received a National Endowment for the Humanities Grant in 2008. In addition, he was the recipient of the Best Public History Award by the National Council for Public History in 2009-2010.

Dr. Garcia’s first position was as an assistant professor of History and Latina/o Studies at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. From 2000-2003, Dr. Garcia worked at the University of Oregon as an Assistant Professor of Ethnic Studies and History. In 2001, he published his first book: “A World of Its Own: Race, Labor, and Citrus in the Making of Greater Los Angeles, 1900-1970.” This work has earned many accolades including: Co-winner, best book (biannual award), Oral History Association, 2003; Honorable Mention, John Hope Franklin Prize for best book, American Studies Association, 2003; Honorable Mention, Lora Romero Prize for best first book, American Studies Association, 2003.

At Brown University, Dr. Garcia was an Associate Professor of American Civilization, Ethnic Studies and History, from 2003-2011. While working at Brown University, Dr. Garcia was also the Interim Director at the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America from 2005-2006.

After leaving Brown, Dr. Garcia became a Professor at the School of Transborder Studies and the School of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious Studies at Arizona State University from 2011-2017. From 2012-2017, Dr. Garcia also served at the Directory of the School of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious Studies at Arizona State. Dr. Garcia’s second book, “From the Jaws of Victory: The Triumph and Tragedy of Cesar Chavez and the Farm Worker Movement,” was published in 2012. That same year Dr. Garcia co-edited “Mapping Latina/o Studies for the Twenty-First Century.”

Dr. Garcia’s most recent book, “Food Across Borders,” was published in 2017. His most current project is titled “Eli and the Octopus: The Man Who Failed to Tame United Fruit Company,” and is under contract with Harvard University Press. The book will be about the life and death of Eli Black, an immigrant who wrestled with the United Fruit Company, and the events’ relevance to modern multinational corporations. Dr. Garcia was awarded a senior fellowship from the American Council for Learned Societies (ACLS) to complete “Eli and the Octopus.”

Further information can be found on Dr. Garcia's personal website: http://www.mattgarcia.org/