1927 - 1993

Little did he know at the time, his future grandson named in his honor, Cesar Estrada Chavez would one day become one of America’s most famous and respected Hispanic leaders of our time.

Cesar Chavez was born the second of six children in 1927, in Yuma, Arizona, as a third generation American to Librado and Juana Chavez. At the age of 10, Cesar’s parents lost their farm that had been in the family for three generations due to the Depression and a broken land agreement by a dishonest individual.

The displaced family packed up their old Studebaker and joined thousands of migrant farm workers who followed the crops from Arizona to California. Most of the time they lived in overcrowded quarters without running water, bathrooms or electricity. If no shelter was available to the workers, they would live in their cars, pickup trucks or sleep in the dirt.

Attending school and working part-time in the fields was tough for young Cesar. He attended more than 30 schools and somehow managed to graduate from the eighth grade. That summer he became a full time migrant farm worker to help better support his family, since his father was in an accident and was unable to work.

Chavez saw first hand the terrible working conditions and compensation the farm workers received. He became passionate about doing something positive to help others improve their lives.

In 1952, Chavez was hired by Fred Ross who was an organizer for the Community Service Organiza-tion (CSO) mainly to help in voter registration and battle economic discrimination against Chicanos.

Chavez still held on to his dream though, of building an organization to help the poor, struggling farm workers. In 1962, he founded, along with Dolores Huerta the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), later to become the United Farm Workers (UFW).

Through tireless struggle and non-violence, Chavez built the UFW into a dues paying membership claiming over 50,000 members. The union’s non-violent tactics such as boycotts, pickets and strikes produced amazing results. He also used his 36-day fast-for-life to bring badly needed exposure to the plight of the farm workers.

At his funeral in 1993, it is said that over 50,000 people came to mourn his passing, which was the largest funeral of any labor leader in the history of the United States.

As a testament to the life of Chavez, what could be more appropriate than the words of St. Paul: “I have fought the good fight to the end. I have run the race to the finish, I have kept the faith.”

May the seeds planted by Cesar Chavez bring an abundant harvest to all those who till the soil.