Chavez, Cesar - Timeline Biography
Time Period
03-31-1927 - 04-23-1993
Description
Cesar Chavez was a Mexican-American farmer and prominent labor leader. In 1962, he founded the National Farm Workers Association, which later merged with another organization and became the United Farm Workers of America (UFW).
He famously led a five-year strike by California grape pickers from 1965 to 1970, which put the American Catholic Church in a precarious situation. Although, Chavez twice petitioned the Catholic Church for help in the dispute, the church was reluctant to become involved given that both most of the farm workers and landowners were Catholic. However, the Catholic Church, guided by their tradition of social justice, sided with Chavez in 1969 and mediated a settlement in the conflict. Chavez says that the Catholic Church’s involvement was crucial in the UFW’s success.
Chavez’s role as a nonviolent civil rights activist won him the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously in 1994.
He famously led a five-year strike by California grape pickers from 1965 to 1970, which put the American Catholic Church in a precarious situation. Although, Chavez twice petitioned the Catholic Church for help in the dispute, the church was reluctant to become involved given that both most of the farm workers and landowners were Catholic. However, the Catholic Church, guided by their tradition of social justice, sided with Chavez in 1969 and mediated a settlement in the conflict. Chavez says that the Catholic Church’s involvement was crucial in the UFW’s success.
Chavez’s role as a nonviolent civil rights activist won him the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously in 1994.
Interactive Timeline(s)
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Religious Groups
Catholicism (Western Liturgical Family): Other ARDA LinksCatholicism (Western Liturgical Family): Religious Family Tree
Photographs
Cesar Chavez portrait- Library of Congress, LC-USZ62-111017
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Cesar Chavez mosaic- Flickr- photo by David Sawyer (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Cesar Chavez Day poster- US Department of Labor
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Cesar Chavez portrait- Wikimedia Commons- photo by user Movimiento (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Book/Journal Source(s)
Prouty, Marco, 2006. Cesar Chavez, the Catholic Bishops, and the Farmworkers' Struggle for Social Justice Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press.Web Source(s)
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Cesar-ChavezCesar Chavez's Encyclopedia Britannica Biography
Web Page Contributor
Benjamin T. GurrentzAffliated with: Pennsylvania State University, Ph.D. in Sociology
