Exhibit May Draw From a Sweatshop of Artifacts

The notorious El Monte clothing-manufacturing sweatshop where more than 70 Thai nationals were discovered in August working in near-slavery has already written its way into U.S. history as an ugly episode of labor abuse. Before long, it may become part of a museum exhibit in the nation’s capital too.

Representatives of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History are talking to the California labor commissioner’s office about acquiring various items seized in last year’s raid of the plant. The details haven’t been worked out, but museum officials are interested in obtaining a few sewing machines used by the Thai workers, along with such things as samples of the clothing produced and pieces of the barbed wire that enclosed the compound.

The aim is to set up a display that would give museum visitors “an emotional or visual sense of what it was like to live and work” at the sweatshop, said Lonnie G. Bunch, an assistant director of the museum.

Items from El Monte are likely to be included in a proposed exhibit titled “Work and Worth” that the museum hopes to open in roughly two years, said Bunch, who was in Los Angeles on Wednesday to look at the materials. In the meantime, some of the artifacts now being warehoused by state officials might also be displayed in temporary showcases.

Bunch said museum officials were struck by several themes raised by the El Monte episode. “It tells you about immigration, and the hopes of what hard work will get you in America. But it also tells you about the limits of hard work and the limits of immigration.”

In addition, Bunch said, the ultimate discovery of the compound and the freeing of the workers “also tells you about the system working in an effective way.”

Expressing mixed feelings about the museum’s plans, however, was Julie Su, a lawyer representing many of the Thai workers. “There’s always a benefit to remembering what happened and not sweeping it under the rug,” she said. But, Su added, “it’s not enough to just look at the relics of El Monte without taking steps to prevent abusive practices in the industry.”

Over the last few weeks, the four members of the family prosecuted by federal authorities in connection with running the El Monte compound all were sentenced to prison terms of six or seven years. Separately, a group including nearly all of the affected Thai workers is waging a civil lawsuit to recover more than $7 million in back wages, along with other damages. So far, with the help of authorities, the El Monte workers have recovered more than $1 million in back pay.