'Welcome to old times': inserting the Okie past into California's San Joaquin Valley present

Collective, or social memory describes how societies draw upon the events of the past to make sense of contemporary circumstances. Because collective memory is both temporal and spatial, it tethers the past to place and recognizes that as social circumstances change, collective memory is subject to reinterpretation as the needs of society change. This paper explores how the Okie migrant heritage has been incorporated within the collective memory of California and the San Joaquin Valley. Initially excluded both socially and spatially, Okie migrants to the San Joaquin Valley and their contemporary descendants have since climbed the socio-economic ladder and begun to assert and promote their identity. Key to this identity is the notion of a generalized Okie heritage of migrant success despite adversity. Such a tale has since been adopted by state agencies and has been used in attempts to unify a diversifying population under the banner of 'the California Story.'The Okie Story has become the archetypal California story. The result has been a continued acceptance and promotion of a universalized Okie story that Okie migrants, their descendants and other Californians continue to embrace and promote today.