Who is Activist Cesar Estrada Chavez

(March 31, 1927 - April 23, 1993) was a Mexican-American farm worker, labor leader, and civil rights activist who, with Dolores Huerta, co-founded the National Farm Workers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers. Supporters say his work led to numerous improvements for union laborers. His birthday has become a holiday in eight U.S. states. Many parks, cultural centers, libraries, schools, and streets have been named in his honor in cities across the United States. Later in life, education became César's passion. The walls of his office in Keene, California (United Farm Worker headquarters) were lined with hundreds of books ranging in subject from philosophy, economics, cooperatives, and unions, to biographies of Gandhi and the Kennedys. He was a vegan. He is buried at 29700 Woodford Tehachapi Road in the Keene community of unincorporated Kern County, California (93531). There is a portrait of him in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.

Activism
Chávez was hired and trained by Fred Ross as a community organizer in 1952 for the Community Service Organization (CSO), a Latino civil rights group. Chávez urged Mexican Americans to register and vote, and he traveled throughout California and made speeches in support of workers' rights. He later became CSO's national director in 1958.

Immigration
The UFWA during Chávez's tenure was committed to restricting immigration. César Chávez and Dolores Huerta fought the Bracero Program that existed from 1942 to 1964. Their opposition stemmed from their belief that the program undermined U.S. workers and exploited the migrant workers. Their efforts contributed to Congress ending the Bracero Program in 1964. In 1973, the UFW was one of the first labor unions to oppose proposed employer sanctions that would have prohibited hiring illegal immigrants. Later during the 1980s, while Chávez was still working alongside UFW president, Dolores Huerta, the cofounder of the UFW, was key in getting the amnesty provisions into the 1986 federal immigration act.

Legacy
In 1973, college professors in Mount Angel, Oregon established the first four-year Mexican-American college in the United States. They chose César Chávez as their symbolic figurehead, naming the college Colegio Cesar Chavez. In the book Colegio Cesar Chavez, 1973-1983: A Chicano Struggle for Educational Self-Determination author Carlos Maldonado writes that Chávez visited the campus twice, joining in public demonstrations in support of the college. Though Colegio Cesar Chavez closed in 1983, it remains a recognized part of Oregon history. On its website the Oregon Historical Society writes, "Structured as a 'college-without-walls,' more than 100 students took classes in Chicano Studies, early childhood development, and adult education. Significant financial and administrative problems caused Colegio to close in 1983. Its history represents the success of a grassroots movement." [read the rest of the Wikipedia article]

• "The Story of César Chávez" United Farmworker's official biography of Chávez
• "César Chávez Timeline", Napa Valley Register, March 30, 2006.
• César Chávez Foundation
• César Chávez - County of Los Angeles Public Library
• Cesar Chavez, "Minuteman" Article about Chávez's concern with strikebreaking and illegal immigration
• Spectrum Biographies - César Chávez
• César Chávez Public Charter School for Public Policy in Washington, DC
• The Fight in the Fields: Cesar Chavez and the Farmworker's Struggle PBS Documentary
• Fresno Adult School (César Chávez Campus)
• Musical inspired by the life of César Chávez
• César Chávez Student Center
• Learn more about the Chávez family short-handled hoe at the Smithsonian, and the United Farmworkers at the Object of History learning site.
• César Chávez Day at California Volunteers - Office of the Governor
• César Chávez Quotes
• A Day of His Own - Dallas Observer - July 5, 2001

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