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Date of Birth
Cesar Estrada Chávez was born on this day, in Yuma, Arizona, to a Mexican-American family of five children. He had two brothers, Richard and Librado, and two sisters, Rita and Vicki.His parents-Librado Chávez and Juana Estrada Chávez- owned a grocery store and a ranch. Cesar grew up in an adobe home, which is also the place where he was born. -
Loss During the Great Depression
Cesar's parents lost their land due to the Great Depression around this time. The family even lost its home becasue Cesar's father afford to buy the deed to their house (which they would have gotten for free in exchange for clearing eighty acres of land). The was house was than sold back to its original owner, making the family homeless. -
Move to Calfiornia
During this time, the Chavez family moved to California to become migrant farm workers. Life in California, however, was very difficult. The family used to pick peas and lettuce in the winter, cherries and beans in the spring, corn and grapes in the summer, and cotton in the fall. -
A Full-time Job
Cesar graduated from eighth grade in 1942, at the age of 15. His father couldn't work at this time because he was injured in an accident and since he didn't want his mother to have to work in the fields, he dropped out of school and became a full-time migrant worker. -
Serve for the Country
At the age of 17, Chávez joined the United States Navy and served there for two years. He had thought this would be an unforgettable experience for him, and it was- but in a bad way. He discovered that Mexican-Americans could only work as painters or deckhands in the Navy. According to him, these two years were the by far the worst in his life. -
Marriage
On this day, Cesar got married to Helen Fabela, his high-school sweetheart. Eventually, the couple had 8 children and, now, a total of 31 grandchildren. -
United Farm Workers
Chávez co-founded this organization with Dolores Huerta, who is also a civil rights activist.The United Farm Workers is a labor union that helped farmsworkers get unemployment insurance so that they could continue to provide for themselves and their families. -
Salad Bowl Strike
After creating the United Farm Workers, Chávez decicated the remaining years of life to supporting and flourishing the union. This event consisted of strikes and boycotts, done in order to get farmworkers ther rights. This event is known to be the largest farmworker strike in U.S. history. -
Death
Cesar Chávez breathed his last on April 23, 1993, in San Luis, Arizona, by dying in his sleep. He is now buried at the National Chávez Center in Kern County, California.
