National Chavez Center

Name: National Chavez Center
Address: 29700 Woodford-Tehachapi Road, Keene, CA, 93531, US
Telephone: (661) 823-6271

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National Chavez Center

Preserving and promoting the legacy of Cesar Chavez. Established as a National Monument in 2012!

03/18/2026

The Chavez Family has asked us to share the following statement on their behalf.

03/15/2026

This week, in honor of Women's History Month, we celebrate Dolores Huerta!

Dolores was born on April 10, 1930, in Dawson, a small mining town in the mountains of northern New Mexico. Dolores found her calling as an organizer while serving in the leadership of the Stockton Community Service Organization (CSO). It was in 1955, through CSO founder Fred Ross, Sr., that she would meet a like-minded colleague, top CSO organizer Cesar Chavez.

For decades, Dolores tirelessly helped lead farm worker strikes and boycotts, negotiate union contracts, and oversee lobbying and political campaigns. She was arrested dozens of times, engaging in nonviolent civil disobedience. Cesar described Dolores as “totally fearless, both mentally and physically.”

Today, Dolores Huerta continues to work tirelessly, developing leaders and advocating for the working poor, women, and children.

03/10/2026

Empowering communities also means honoring and supporting our seniors.

Through Community Services, seniors are provided with programs, resources, and community support that help them live with dignity, connection, and care.

From educational opportunities and community activities to access to vital resources, these services ensure that older adults remain valued, supported, and engaged in the communities they helped build.

Together, we continue the legacy of service, respect, and empowerment for every generation.

02/08/2026

“Talk is cheap and our young people know it best of all. It is the way we organize and use our lives every day that tells what we believe in.” - Cesar Chavez, Speech at Exposition Park, 1971

🎨 by Suwen Han

02/01/2026

"Because people are important, working for people - even sacrificing a little bit for them - brings much meaning to one's life." -Cesar Chavez

🎨 by Lisa Reinertson

01/31/2026

In January, during her birthday month, we celebrate Helen Chavez!

Helen was quiet and humble but fiercely determined. She didn't speak in public but held deep convictions. In 1965, Cesar's Latino union debated whether to join a grape strike begun by Filipino workers. Helen settled the debate in her quiet, no-nonsense way by asking, "Are we a union or not?" Soon, she was jailed for shouting "Huelga!" on a picket line.

Helen's schedule was punishing, rising early to make breakfast and school lunches and joining vineyard picket lines before dawn. While caring for her family daily, she managed the Farm Workers Credit Union for over 25 years, loaning over $20 million.

She was always Cesar's strongest supporter and a surrogate mother to countless movement volunteers, cooking for their weddings and at significant union events and becoming a friend and confidant to many.

What she did for her family, she did for the movement.

01/30/2026

We celebrate Tuesday, January 30, as Fred Korematsu Day, honoring his struggle for the civil rights of Japanese Americans. In 1942, after the attack by Japan on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii during World War II, all Japanese Americans were forced into internment camps. Fred Korematsu bravely refused to be interned, and, like Cesar Chavez, Korematsu fought against racism and inequality against his people, a battle he won decades later in federal court.

The National Chavez Center has worked with the Fred T. Korematsu Institute, which is also dedicated to promoting education and civic participation around civil and human rights.

01/27/2026

Today on Holocaust Memorial Day, we remember the millions who lost their lives as a result of hatred and bigotry. We honor their memory by continuing to promote Cesar’s vision of acceptance of all people.

“We need to help students and parents cherish and preserve the ethnic and cultural diversity that nourishes and strengthens this community – and this nation.” -Cesar Chavez

01/25/2026

Today, we remember Nan Freeman.

Nan Freeman, 18, was a student at New College in Sarasota, Florida, who was killed while picketing with striking farm workers on January 25th, 1972. Nan, her friend Pam Albright, and UFW organizer Jose Romero were talking to truck drivers and trying to leaflet when a double-trailer truck carrying 70,000 pounds of struck sugar cane drove into the entrance of Talisman Sugar Plant. The truck hit and knocked Nan into a guard railing. Nan was taken to a local hospital, where she was proclaimed dead.

Nan was dedicated to Social Justice and cared about people from all walks of life.

After learning about Nan's death, Cesar wrote, "To us, she is a sister who picketed with farm workers in the middle of the night because of her love for justice. She is a young woman who fulfilled the commandments by loving her neighbors even to the point of sacrificing her own life. To us, Nan Freeman is Kadosha in the Hebrew tradition, a holy person to be honored and remembered for as long as farm workers struggle for justice."

📸 UFW

01/20/2026

: A bronze bust of civil rights and farm labor leader Cesar Chavez is placed on display in President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s Oval Office.

The 9” by 22” bronze sculpture on a granite pedestal by artist Paul A. Suarez had been on display in the Visitor Center of the César E. Chávez National Monument, the 398th unit of the National Park Service (NPS). This is where Chavez lived and labored his last quarter century and where he is buried alongside his wife, Helen, in the Tehachapi Mountain town of Keene, Calif. southeast of Bakersfield.

01/19/2026

Today, we remember the legacy and impact of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who selflessly dedicated his life to a better future.

"There is a bond between the struggle of the farm workers in California and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It is a bond of love and leadership."

"Dr. King proved that the only road we can walk is that of non-violence and love. It was his example that inspired and continues to inspire us as we confront the obstacles on that road and overcome them. Through his work and in his death, he breathes life into the teachings of Christ and Ghandi. His great faith that We Shall Overcome is the same faith which allowed us to continue, no matter the odds."

"We have a debt to Dr. King. It can only be repaid as he would have it, in sacrifice and continued non-violent struggle against those who have oppressed us and would continue to oppress us"-El Malcriado, Vol. 2, no. 4.

To read the full issue of El Malcriado visit bit.ly/3vziaRu.

The King Center

01/16/2026

"Respect for faith of others stands on the same footing as culture." - Cesar Chavez

On Religious Freedom Day, we highlight Martyr's Rock at the National Chavez Center, a large outcropping of boulders on top of which Cesar had erected in metal a Christian Cross, a Star of David, and a Muslim crescent moon—representing the faiths of the union’s five martyrs.

Address

29700 Woodford-Tehachapi Road
Keene, CA
93531

Telephone

(661) 823-6271

Website

https://linktr.ee/nationalchavezcenter

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The Preservation of Cesar Chavez and the Movement

The National Chavez Center is located in Keene, California on a 187 Acre parcel of land. The grounds have grown significantly since it originally was the home to Cesar and Helen Chavez, along with the operation grounds for the farm worker movement. Today, it houses the National Cesar E. Chavez Visitor Center, Museum, Memorial Gardens, and Villa la Paz Events and Conference space.

The National Chavez Center is more than a physical location, however. It acts as a way to preserve the legacy of Cesar Chavez through educational programs, tours, and speeches. Those seeking more information about Cesar Chavez and the farm worker movement, are encouraged to email the Director of Operations at [email protected].