Features of the Memorial Garden represent the beliefs and practices that were important to Cesar Chavez. Within the garden, ornamental plants, a wall fountain, and religious statues decorate the final resting place of Cesar Chavez and his wife Helen Chavez.
In this building, accountants managed the finances of the United Farm Workers union. Eventually, as the union expanded and the movement grew, the financial operation moved to other offices.
As the first affordable housing community built by what is now the Cesar Chavez Foundation, Agbayani Village served as a model for dozens of properties built across four states that continue providing affordable housing. Inside a small room at the southeast corner of Agbayani Village, Cesar Chavez held his last and longest public fast of 36 days in July and August of 1988 over the pesticide poisoning of farm workers and their children.
The memorial garden surrounds the final resting place of Cesar and his wife Helen. Their gravesite is at the back of the garden, near a wall fountain that honors the five martyrs who lost their lives during the strikes. As a space of reflection and contemplation, the memorial garden represents Cesar's spiritual, cultural, and agricultural heritage.
When Cesar's two German Shepherds, Huelga and Boycott, weren't roaming the fenced area around his home, they stayed in kennels that were at this spot. The dogs provided personal security for Cesar and his family, but he was also very attached to them. They went with him almost everywhere, including on the road when he travelled by car, and deepened his belief that all lives are valuable, with no exception.
The top of this hill affords views covering nearly all of the national monument, including housing areas, Villa la Paz, and what is now the Visitor Center and Memorial Garden. From here, you can see Cesar's meditation point to the east and Three Peaks to the north.
This humble building was the home of Cesar Chavez and his wife Helen. When they moved here in 1971, the oldest of their eight children had already moved out of the family home but their younger children were raised here. Cesar and Helen remained in this house for the rest of their lives. Cesar passed away in 1993 and Helen lived here until her death in 2016.
In April 1962, the Chavez family moved from East Los Angeles to a house they rented in Delano. This small two-bedroom wood-frame home with eight children and their parents was also the first office of the newly born Farm Workers Association. By 1963, the union office had outgrown the residence and the union rented another building in Delano to serve as its headquarters. The Chavez family continued living in the house until moving to Keene, CA, in 1971.
Here, Cesar Chavez was laid to rest in 1993. Upon her passing in 2016, Cesar's wife Helen was interred by his side. Cesar wished to be buried on the grounds where he pursued his labors as an activist during his last quarter century. After his passing, Helen Chavez made it clear she did not want him to ever be left alone.
Welcome to César E. Chávez National Monument. A visitor center, memorial garden, and monument grounds are a short distance away. Entrance to these areas is free and open to all. The shape of the sign comes from the Huelga eagle, a symbol of the farmworker movement.
The Delano High School Auditorium was the site of hearings on the plight of farmworkers by Senator Robert F. Kennedy and the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Migratory Labor in March 1966. At the hearing, Senator Kennedy famously responded to the sheriff’s defense of his arrests of peaceful pickets by suggesting that “the sheriff and the district attorney read the Constitution of the United States.” Kennedy's interest raised the national profile of the nascent farmworker movement.
The house where Dolores Huerta lived in the 1960s and early 1970s while she worked with Cesar Chavez to build the farmworker movement that empowered agricultural workers and improved their living conditions.
As the largest building within the monument, this dormitory provided housing throughout the history of the property and its many uses. The building was originally constructed as a hospital for Stony Brook Retreat, a tuberculosis sanatorium. The development of more modern treatments for tuberculosis led to its closure in 1967. Shortly thereafter, Hollywood producer Ed Lewis purchased the property, and in 1970, turned it over to Cesar Chavez and the farmworker movement.
Led by prominent labor leader Larry Itliong, the mostly Filipino farm workers of the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee gathered in the Filipino Community Hall and voted on the night of September 7, 1965, to strike against Delano-area grape growers. The next day, on September 8, 1965, the Filipino farmworkers began the Delano Grape Strike. The Cesar Chavez-led National Farm Workers Association voted to join the Filipinos on September 16, 1965.
Cesar Chavez moved union operations of what was then known as the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) from his rented home to this rented building in the early 1960s. Within this union office, leaders coordinated strike operations, provided services, ran a credit union and operated the union newspaper El Malcriado.
The United Farm Workers quickly expanded during the 1965-1970 Delano Grape Strike and international grape boycott. The movement purchased a 40-acre parcel of bare land just west of Delano to supply room for the union to grow. The land came to be known as Forty Acres.Cesar's brother Richard organized volunteers to clear and level the land. Buildings were constructed, which provided basic infrastructure to meet the needs of the union and farm workers: a co-op service station, R
This garden offers a short walk through a landscape that held special meaning for Cesar Chavez. Rocks and fieldstone planters line the curved pathways that pass through a garden of Sonoran Desert plants. Many of the plants are native to Cesar's birthplace and the Chavez family homestead in Yuma, Arizona. These plants are also drought-tolerant, helping to conserve water and honoring Cesar's commitment to resource conservation.
Many people who were involved in the farmworker movement were laid to rest in this cemetery, including Larry Itliong, Richard Chavez, and other notable Delano Grape Strike leaders who dedicated their lives to the movement.
Saturday evenings and Sundays often found Helen Chavez gathered with volunteers and visitors at the small park and fieldstone grill pit next to the Chavez home, barbecuing and relaxing after a full day or week of hard work. Over the years she became a surrogate mother to countless young single volunteers who journeyed to La Paz to work for social justice.
During storms and heavy rains, the creek can flow over the road. Do not drive over the water crossing if you're unsure that conditions are safe. The memorial may be closed when it rains.
In room 44 of the old Stardust Motel, Cesar Chavez met in July 1970 with America's largest table grape growers and negotiated the union contracts that ended the five-year-long Delano Grape Strike.
The building housing this rustic diner dates back to 1920. Still open each day for breakfast and lunch, its great food and country atmosphere draws customers from throughout the Tehachapi Mountains and Central Valley. Cesar was friends with the café's previous owner, Ruby Woods. They jokingly greeted each other, Cesar asking Ruby if she would sell him the Keene Café and Ruby asking Cesar if he would sell her La Paz.
Martyr's Rock is dedicated to the people who lost their lives during the struggle for civil rights for the farmworkers who feed America. The three metal symbols mounted on top of this rock formation represent the people who died during the grape strikes. Five martyrs are honored here: Nan Freeman, Nagi Daifallah, Juan De La Cruz, Rufino Contreras, and Rene Lopez. The Christian Cross, a Star of David, and a Muslim Crescent Moon represent their different faiths and backgrounds.
To foster a sense of community, Cesar brought people together to break bread as often as possible. Here, people living on the property regularly came together to share meals and socialize. It was also often a setting for special events, gatherings and holidays.
In the early 1970s, the United Farm Workers organization used the building as a dormitory for volunteers. Later it became an administrative office for the union's Robert F. Kennedy Medical Plan and the Juan de la Cruz Pension Plan.
This wooden post is one of many peace poles that are found worldwide. Metal plaques on its side say, "May Peace Prevail on Earth" in English, Spanish, Tagalog, and Hebrew. This Peace Pole represents the four cultures that were reflected in the farmworker movement. Peace poles are meant to unite people of different cultures, faiths, and ideals in order to celebrate humanity and to manifest peace on earth.
During the 1960s and 1970s, People’s Bar became a popular spot with union volunteers, activists, and members involved in the movement gathered here. Cesar regularly relaxed, played pool, and socialized with the volunteers at the bar. It soon became a “free speech zone” where people felt safe to debate a variety of issues, and to make decisions involving the direction of the movement. Cesar Chavez met his wife, Helen Fabela, while she was a cashier at People's Store.
This housing was originally built for doctors and other staff of the old Stonybrook Sanitarium, After the farmworker movement acquired the property, this section of the housing district provided space for long-term residents of La Paz. Today, some of the original residents still live in these homes.
This picnic area is open to the public. This area was once the site of staff housing but is now a place for visitors to rest, enjoy a meal, or the company of friends and family.
This Quonset hut, constructed in the 1950s, served as an office for the United Farm Workers security staff during the farmworker movement. Its large windows offered a clear view, helping staff screen those entering the property.
Home of Richard Chavez, whose support of the farm worker movement was critical to its success. One of Richard’s notable contributions to the movement was providing funding to create the Farm Workers Credit Union. Richard took out a second mortgage on his home in 1963, so Cesar could open the credit union.
Originally this was the main printing office for the farm worker movement, it later grew to serve as office space for union leaders. Many of the distinctive and creative posters, flyers, and picket signs of the movement came directly from this office. This building was named for Sister Florence Weber, who came to La Paz and professionalized and modernized the farmworker movement’s accounting operations.
As activists traveled here to La Paz to volunteer for the movement, movement leaders built more housing to accommodate them. Hundreds of people lived and worked at La Paz, and they all needed a place to live. Trailers provided a low-cost solution.
This building housed Cesar Chavez's office and the United Farm Workers' Legal Department. From here boycotts were coordinated across the U.S. and Canada until 1969, when union operations moved to the Forty Acres. The Pink House was later home to the Huelga School, established by the movement to teach the children of grape strikers and union staff.
This outdoor exhibit near the entrance to the Memorial Garden provides additional information about the garden's history and features. Brochures that identify the meaning of garden features are available from a brochure holder near the exhibit. The wayside displays information about landscape architect Dennis Dahlin's design to commemorate Cesar's life and values.
The first permanent structure built on Forty Acres, the service station included gas pumps, an automotive repair shop, and a steel-framed multipurpose hall. Cesar's first public fast to rededicate the movement to non-violence took place in 1968 inside a small room in the service station.
Villa la Paz played a key role in organizing and educating people who came to join the farmworker cause. Cesar used this building as an educational center where activists learned techniques that promoted the goals of the farmworker movement. Here, thousands of people learned the principles of nonviolence and the skills to administer a growing organization.
