![]() Jerome giving his depiction of things." Osborn says the producers "took the first thing out of his mouth." "It was not rats," says Teresa Osborn, who is Jerome King's cousin. When Lowe asks how the hole got there, Jerome tells him, "The rats." The camera cuts to the kitchen counter, where flies swarm around a pot of beans, then it cuts to a ripped up section of the mattress Jerome sleeps on. In one of the most dramatic moments in the documentary, Lowe interviews King's 9-year-old son, Jerome, who's watching his baby sisters. Years later, she told Florida's Sun Sentinel that she actually made $10 to $15 a day when CBS interviewed her, she said $1 because she'd only worked two hours so far that day. When CBS' Lowe asked her how much she earned, King said $1. Take Allean King, who was interviewed while she was picking beans. But there was also criticism of the documentary, even from some of the migrants themselves. Osborn credits Harvest of Shame with making the rest of America look at how people who didn't have a voice were living. And it was hard to save and put away money. It's almost like you were working for that day," Osborn says, "and then the next day had to take care of itself, and the next had to take care of itself. "You go from sunup to sundown and you look at the amount of money you bring in and a lot of times it just didn't make ends meet. Her grandfather was a crew leader interviewed by CBS for Harvest of Shame. Teresa Osborn, a 54-year-old middle school teacher in Belle Glade, says it was merciless work. The Salt Injuries On The Farm Happen Much More Often Than We're Told The day after it aired, The New York Times' review said Harvest of Shame was "uncompromising in its exposure of filth, despair and grinding poverty that are the lot of the migratory workers." Former CBS News anchor and correspondent Dan Rather told NPR, "Nobody but nobody had taken an hour to do this kind of expose." He describes the tone as "somber" and the style as "part expose journalism, part a deep-digging, investigative report." As for milk, she reluctantly admits the children might have it once a week, when she draws a paycheck. ![]() Sitting with her nine children, one woman tells Lowe that an average dinner is a pot of beans or potatoes. In it, African-Americans and whites weary mothers, fathers and their children recount their stories to producer Lowe. The film is full of vivid, black and white images reminiscent of Depression-era photographers Dorothea Lange and Walker Evans. One farmer told CBS, "We used to own our slaves. Crew leaders yell out the going rate for that day's pay and men and women pack onto the backs of large trucks that drive them to the fields. It's what's called a "shape-up" for migrant workers. Harvest of Shame begins in an open lot, crowded with men and women looking for jobs. "We present this report on Thanksgiving because, were it not for the labor of the people you are going to meet, you might not starve, but your table would not be laden with the luxuries that we have all come to regard as essentials," he said in his narration. Murrow, perhaps the most recognized journalist of the day, delivered their message with a sense of urgency. To maximize its impact, CBS aired the documentary - about the people who pick fruits and vegetables - the day after Thanksgiving. Murrow and David Lowe - made no secret of their goal: They wanted to shock Americans into action. The CBS investigative report was the first time millions of Americans were given a close look at what it means to live in poverty. ![]() ![]() In the world of journalism, CBS' Peabody Award-winning documentary Harvest of Shame is considered a milestone for its unflinching examination of the plight of migrant farmworkers in the United States. CBS YouTubeįifty years ago this year, President Lyndon Johnson launched his war on poverty But just a few years before that, CBS gave millions of Americans a close look at what it means to live in poverty. Harvest of Shame first aired in 1960, the day after Thanksgiving. ![]()
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