César Chávez

Cesar Chavez
Chavez in 1974
Born	César Estrada Chávez (1927-03-31)March 31, 1927 Yuma, Arizona, U.S.
Died	April 23, 1993(1993-04-23) (aged 66) San Luis, Arizona, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupations	Farm worker Labor leader Civil rights activist
Height	5 ft 6 in (168 cm)
Children	12
Parents	Librado Chávez (father) Juana Estrada Chávez (mother)

Cesar Chavez (born César Estrada Chávez (March 31, 1927 – April 23, 1993) was a Native Mexican American farmworker, labor leader and civil rights activist. Chávez started the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) along with Dolores Huerta. He wanted equal rights for Native Hispanic Americans working in the United States. This union became the United Farm Workers.

Early life

Chávez was born near Yuma, Arizona and went to over 37 schools. He graduated from the eighth grade. He did most of his organizing in California, especially near Bakersfield. Fred Ross taught him to lead unions. Fred Ross was a student of Saul Alinsky.

Activism

In 1965, Chávez and the NFWA started a strike for grape-pickers in California. At the same time, he asked Americans to boycott grapes from California. In 1970, the migrant workers won their fight for better pay.

He kept working against unfair labor rules. He stopped eating in protests three times because of low pay and bad working conditions. When he died, he was leading another grape boycott to stop the use of pesticides.

Legacy

Chávez is respected in California and other states. In 2000, California's state legislature started a holiday to honor him. The holiday is on March 31, Chávez's birthday. This is the first time that a US public holiday honored a Native Hispanic/Latino-American or a union leader. Many cities have streets or places named for him. These cities include San Francisco, Los Angeles, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Austin, Texas, Chicago, Illinois, Milwaukee, and Salt Lake City. In 1998 he was inducted into the Hall of Honor by the United States Department of Labor.

Sexual abuse accusations

On March 17, 2026, accusations of sexual abuse against Chavez led United Farm Workers to cancel their tribute to Chavez just weeks before the annual event. UFW said that Chavez was accused of sexually abusing minors. The following day, The New York Times published an investigation into Chavez, reporting that he had sexually abused two young girls many times between 1972 and 1977. In addition, the Times reported that Dolores Huerta had been raped by Chavez many times, in incidents which led to pregnancies and to Huerta having the children raised by others.

References

Other websites

Wikimedia Commons has media related to César Chávez.

• "The Story of Cesar Chavez" Archived 2016-02-07 at the Wayback Machine, United Farmworker's official biography of Chavez.
• César E. Chávez Chronology Archived 2010-03-30 at the Wayback Machine, County of Los Angeles Public Library.
• Five Part Series on Cesar Chavez Archived 2017-02-23 at the Wayback Machine, Los Angeles Times, Kids' Reading Room Classic, October 2000.
• "The study of history demands nuanced thinking", Miriam Pawel Archived 2011-12-06 at the Wayback Machine from the Austin American-Statesman, 2009/7/17. A caution that histories of Chavez and the UFW should not be hagiography, nor be suppressed, but taught "wiktionary:warts and all"
• The Fight in the Fields: Cesar Chavez and the Farmworker's Struggle Archived 2013-01-13 at Archive.today, PBS Documentary.
• Farmworker Movement Documentation Project Archived 2009-11-14 at the Wayback Machine
• New York Times obituary, April 24, 1993
• Walter P. Reuther Library – President Clinton presents Helen Chavez with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, 1994