Washington – Sites associated with the life and work of César Chávez, the farm labor organizer and activist, will be considered for either national historic landmark status or addition to the National Register of Historic Places under legislation passed Tuesday by the House.
The bill, approved by voice vote, authorizes the Interior Department to study locations where Chávez lived and worked, determine appropriate methods for preserving and interpreting those sites, and decide which meet the criteria for listing on the register or designation as a historic landmark. Similar legislation awaits action in the Senate.
Chávez’s United Farm Workers of America led a five-year nationwide boycott of California grape growers that resulted in the first union contract between the growers and their migrant laborers.
