President Will Designate Chavez Home as National Monument

By KSEE News

October 8, 2012 Updated Oct 8, 2012 at 12:28 AM PDT

On Monday, the late labor leader Cesar Chavez will be honored in a significant way. President Obama will visit the last home Chavez lived in, and officially designate it as a national monument.

Cesar Chavez fought for the rights of farm workers by organizing marches and hunger strikes. Chavez eventually co-founded a labor union that became the United Farm Workers of America.

“There is so much that people in the Latino community have done historically, and to have one of our own selected to be recognized like this, it's just an ecstatic feeling for a lot of us in the San Joaquin Valley,” said Cesar Chavez advisory committee member, Jose Luis Barraza.

Chavez's last home is now called the National Chavez Center. It’s located at La Paz in the Tehachapi Mountain of Keene, California. It was the U.F.W. headquarters and was also home to hundreds of farm workers. The 105-acre property is now managed by the national park service.

“Ecstatic first and foremost because it’s a very significant event. I think it's long time overdue that one of our leaders in our community in the San Joaquin Valley be recognized for his significant work,” said Barraza.

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