Cesar E. Chavez National Monument is a 116-acre (47 ha) U.S. National Monument in Keene, Kern County, California. The property was the headquarters of the United Farm Workers, and home to César Chávez from the early 1970s until his death in 1993; it includes his gravesite.
HistoryEdit
Cesar E. Chavez National Monument was established by President Barack Obama on October 8, 2012 by proclamation under authority of the Antiquities Act. The monument is located among the Tehachapi Mountains in Keene, California, about 27 miles (43 km) southeast of Bakersfield. The property is known as Nuestra Señora Reina de la Paz (La Paz), which was designated as a National Historic Landmark along with the monument on October 8, in 2012.
The monument is the 398th unit the National Park System and is managed collaboratively by the National Park Service and the National Chavez Center. The Center and members of the Chávez family offered to donate properties at La Paz to the federal government to establish the national monument. Initial funding was provided by the National Park Foundation's America Latino Heritage Fund. Some of the monument's services and programs are still in development, but a visitor center and memorial garden where Chavez is buried are open to the public.
Proposed inclusion in national parkEdit
In October 2013, the site was identified as one of several to be part of a proposed new National Historical Park to commemorate the life and work of Chavez and the farm worker movement. Other sites for the proposed new parkâ€"which requires Congressional approvalâ€"include the Filipino Community Hall in Delano, California (headquarters of the Delano grape strike), The Forty Acres (also in Delano), McDonnell Hall in San Jose, and the Santa Rita Center in Phoenix, Arizona.
See alsoEdit
- California Historical Landmarks in Kern County, California
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Kern County, California
- List of National Monuments of the United States
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
- NPS: Official Cesar E. Chavez National Monument website
- Chavezfoundation.org: Cesar Chavez Foundation
