Farm labor leaders gather in bid to preserve Cesar Chavez’s legacy
The following are the National Park Service’s descriptions of four sites deemed nationally significant to the life of Cesar Chavez and the farm labor movement in the western United States. These four sites could become part of a national park. While a route Chavez marched from Delano to Sacramento was also found to be nationally significant, it likely wouldn’t become part of a park.
For more information or to comment on the National Park Service’s Cesar Chavez Special Resource Study by Nov. 14, visit http://www.nps.gov/pwro/chavez/.
Forty Acres, Delano
Several structures housed the UFW’s headquarters and the first of many service centers to meet farmworkers’ needs beyond the fields. It housed a gas station and repair shop, multipurpose hall, health clinic and retirement village for Filipino American farmworkers. Cesar Chavez conducted his first fast at the Forty Acres in 1968, moved his office into Reuther Hall in 1969 and brought growers to Reuther Hall to sign contracts ending the union’s five-year table-grape strike in 1970. Chavez conducted his final fast at the Forty Acres in 1988. Forty Acres was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2008. It is owned by the Chavez Foundation and continues to be a UFW field office.
Filipino Community Hall, Delano
On Sept. 8, 1965, Filipino American farmworkers led by Larry Itliong and affiliated with the AFLCIO’s Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee gathered in this building and voted to go on strike against Delano table-grape growers.
When members of the National Farm Workers Association voted to join their strike eight days later, Itliong and other AWOC members made the Filipino Hall available as a joint strike headquarters. The hall became the site of daily meals and regular Friday night meetings featuring speeches, songs and performances by El Teatro Campesino. The hall hosted important visits by United Auto Workers’ President Walter Reuther, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and other influential supporters, and became a symbol of the farm labor movement’s multi-racial unity during the 1960s. The concrete block and stucco structure, built in 1949 by volunteers from the Filipino American community, now houses the Delano Adult Day Health Care Center and hosts social events.
Nuestra Senora Reina de La Paz, Keene
Between 1970 and 1984, the farm labor movement transitioned into a modern labor union, the UFW. This union secured unprecedented gains during these years, which were closely associated with La Paz. A union supporter purchased the property at La Paz in 1971, and leased it to the National Farm Workers Service Center. With 187 acres of land, residential buildings, administrative spaces and maintenance shops, the property supported not only the UFW headquarters and Cesar Chavez’s residence, but also the thousands of union members who came to La Paz to help devise organizing strategies, to receive training and to strengthen their sense of solidarity. For Chavez, La Paz became a place where he could retreat, recharge and envision new directions for the UFW. Owned by the Chavez Foundation, Nuestra Senora de La Paz is used as a visitors center and retreat facility (Villa La Paz Conference Center).
Santa Rita Center, Phoenix
Cesar Chavez undertook a 24-day fast in May 1972 to protest an Arizona law that limited farmworkers’ rights to conduct strikes and boycotts and to publicize a campaign to recall the governor of Arizona. Chavez conducted 19 days of this fast at the Santa Rita Center, a building associated with Sacred Heart Catholic Church in the south Phoenix barrio known as El Campito. Thousands of Arizona farmworkers and influential supporters such as Coretta Scott King came to the Santa Rita Center to participate in rallies, celebrate nightly Masses, give voice to the movement’s newly adopted slogan "Si Se Puede!" and pledge their support for La Causa. Chicanos Por La Causa purchased the structure in 2004 to preserve the structure and develop a community cultural center. The site was listed on the Phoenix Historic Property Register in 2007.
— National Park Service
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Roger Gadiano said if there were a national historical park dedicated to the life of Cesar Chavez and the farm labor movement, "Heck, yeah" he’d become a park ranger.
"I want the cap," said the Filipino immigrant, Vietnam War veteran and longtime unofficial Delano farm labor movement tour guide. Plus, he said, "I’ve been doing it for the last 30 years already."
Gadiano said he routinely gets calls from university groups who make "pilgrimages" to Kern County in search of a sense of "cultural identity."
Monday evening, Gadiano, along with a many other farmworker movement heavyweights, emphasized the importance of passing on that cultural identity at a public hearing to discuss a special National Park Service study aimed at solidifying the movement’s historical legacy.
The meeting was led by National Park Service program chief Martha Crusius at the Forty Acres complex in Delano, which was designated a National Historic Landmark earlier this year. This is the second round of public meetings on the Cesar Chavez Special Resource Study, which was authorized by Congress in 2008.
Monday, Crusius explained five options proposed for future management of sites the study found to be significant. Those options include the creation of a National Historical Park incorporating several sites; the creation of a National Historic Trail commemorating the 1966 march from Delano to Sacramento; the establishment of a National Historic Site at the Forty Acres; and the establishment of a National Network of historic sites or museums related to the movement.
The fifth option is a "continuation of current management," meaning any sites or programs would keep operating as they do now, without NPS assistance.
A draft of the study was released this month after years of evaluating more than 100 sites scattered from San Francisco to Yuma, Ariz., based on a number of factors that might make those sites suitable for federal designation as historically significant.
At the meeting, Crusius presented the various alternatives — which she said are still open to tweaking based on public comment — then fielded questions about the legislative process necessary to move forward.
She said that based on the feedback the NPS receives between now and the public comment deadline Nov. 14, she hoped to have a final study report with recommendations submitted to Congress in early December.
From there, though, it’s up to Congress — meaning a Cesar Chavez National Historical Park could be anywhere from months away to decades down the line.
Still, Crusius mentioned the movement’s recognition has support from Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. At the meeting, despite minor differences in opinions about specific sites, she said she’s seen "strong interest in telling the stories."
United Farm Workers President Arturo Rodriguez said he plans to spread the word to people who may not have been available to attend the meeting so they can make their voices heard on the issue.
"This is so important," he said. "I don’t think the Department of the Interior has recognized Latinos or Filipinos (to this extent) in recent history."
Cesar Chavez Foundation President Paul Chavez said that while it’s exciting for the farmworker movement to gain recognition on a national scale, "for three locations to be selected in Kern County, it really is historic."