This dissertation explores the connection between the historical citrus industry and the identity formation of Southern California through the symbolism of the orange, with a specific focus on women within this dynamic. The citrus industry, which peaked between 1910-1955, leveraged an existing mythical ideology known as the “California Dream” to promote California citrus fruit. This mythology, combined with citrus marketing, portrayed Southern California as an Anglo-elite agrarian paradise that diminished the presence and contributions of Mexican and Mexican Americans during and after the citrus era. The women who worked in citrus packing houses and resided in the surrounding communities, particularly Mexican and Mexican American women, played a vital role throughout this process. Their industrial labor, domesticity, images, and community activism were not just necessary but instrumental for the citrus industry's function and success and the establishment of the surrounding communities.

This work analyzes the history, crate label ephemera, and collective memory of the Southern California citrus industry alongside the essential contributions of the local Mexican and Mexican American communities, especially women. These laborers were community builders who preserved their regional memory while resisting practices of exploitation and discrimination—practices perpetuated by the citrus industry and cultural institutions in Southern California both in the past and present. The white nativist identity symbolized by the orange is preserved by commemorating the citrus industry at public heritage sites and the iconic images, or citriculture, that still permeate the region. Mexican and Mexican American art forms have resisted Southern California’s white nativist identity by challenging the exclusionary practices of local heritage sites and reinscribing the built environment with their history.