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César E. Chávez National Monument

Coordinates: 35°13′38″N 118°33′41″W / 35.2273°N 118.5614°W / 35.2273; -118.5614
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César E. Chávez National Monument
(Nuestra Señora Reina de la Paz)
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)
César E. Chávez burial site
Map showing the location of César E. Chávez National Monument (Nuestra Señora Reina de la Paz)
Map showing the location of César E. Chávez National Monument (Nuestra Señora Reina de la Paz)
Map showing the location of César E. Chávez National Monument (Nuestra Señora Reina de la Paz)
Map showing the location of César E. Chávez National Monument (Nuestra Señora Reina de la Paz)
Map
Interactive map of César E. Chávez National Monument
(Nuestra Señora Reina de la Paz)
LocationKern County, California, United States
Nearest cityBakersfield
Coordinates35°13′38″N 118°33′41″W / 35.2273°N 118.5614°W / 35.2273; -118.5614
Area116 acres (47 ha)[1]
AuthorizedOctober 8, 2012
Visitors31,497 (in 2025)[2]
Governing bodyNational Park Service
WebsiteCesar E. Chavez National Monument
Nuestra Senora Reina de la Paz
César E. Chávez National Monument is located in California
César E. Chávez National Monument
Location29700 Woodford-Tehachapi Rd., Keene, California
Area187 acres (76 ha)
Built byChavez, Richard; et al.
Architectural styleBungalow/craftsman, Mission/spanish Revival
NRHP reference No.11000576[3]
Added to NRHPAugust 30, 2011

César E. Chávez National Monument,[4] also known as Nuestra Señora Reina de la Paz, is a 116-acre (47 ha) U.S. national monument in Keene, California, located about 32 miles away from Bakersfield, California. The property was the headquarters of the United Farm Workers (UFW), and home to César Chávez from the early 1970s until his death in 1993.

Chávez's gravesite is located in the property's gardens along with that of his wife, Helen Fabela Chávez. Originally developed as a headquarters and worker housing area for a quarry, it served as a tuberculosis sanitarium (known as Stony Brook Sanitorium) in the early 1900s,[4] until its acquisition by the UFW in the early 1970s.

History

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The main entrance to Villa La Paz.

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 32 miles (51 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, 2012.

Fountain and gardens at César E. Chávez National Monument.

The monument is the 398th unit in 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 donated properties of La Paz to the federal government to establish the national monument. Initial funding was provided by the National Park Foundation[5] and the America Latino Heritage Fund.[6]

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.[7][8][9][10] Certain areas of the monument are closed to the public due to the Chávez family still living in La Paz, and members of the UFW still working in the UFW offices located on the property.

The National Cesar Chavez Center pressured California lawmakers to scale back plans to increase freight capacity on train tracks near the monument.[11] The Center also protested against proposed high-speed rail near the monument, leading policymakers to add a detour for the high-speed rail line, which added $815 million to the California high-speed rail project.[11]

Proposed inclusion in national historical park

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Chávez National Monument, showing its location within Tehachapi Pass.

In October 2013, the National Park Service identified the site as one of several to be part of a proposed new National Historical Park to commemorate the life and work of Cesar Chávez and the farm worker movement.[12] Other sites for the proposed new park include the Filipino Community Hall in Delano, California (headquarters of the Delano grape strike), The Forty Acres (the original UFW headquarters in Delano), McDonnell Hall in San Jose, and the Santa Rita Center in Phoenix, Arizona.[12]

Legislation for redesignation of the site was reintroduced in 2023.[13] In March 2026, following sexual abuse allegations against Chávez, Representative Raul Ruiz and Senator Alex Padilla, both California Democrats and the lead sponsors of the legislation, announced they would no longer advance the bills and would instead work to rename the associated landmarks.[14]

Response to 2026 sexual abuse allegations

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Main article: Cesar Chavez sexual abuse allegations

In March 2026, The New York Times published an investigation alleging that Chávez had sexually abused women and girls over the course of decades, including UFW co-founder Dolores Huerta.[15] Multiple accusers said that some of the reported abuse took place at La Paz itself, including in Chávez's office on the property.[15] The future of the national monument remained uncertain; altering or renaming a national monument requires an act of Congress or action by the president.[16] The National Parks Conservation Association stated that it continued to support a national park site honoring the farmworker movement, emphasizing that the movement's history "is not about a single person."[14]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Listing of acreage – December 31, 2013" (XLSX). Land Resource Division, National Park Service. Retrieved March 14, 2014. (National Park Service Acreage Reports)
  2. ^ "NPS Annual Recreation Visits Report". National Park Service. Retrieved March 23, 2026.
  3. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
  4. ^ a b "| California State University, Bakersfield". Csub.edu. February 28, 2014. Archived from the original on January 17, 2023. Retrieved June 5, 2018.
  5. ^ "National Park Foundation". National Park Foundation. Archived from the original on January 30, 1998. Retrieved June 5, 2018.
  6. ^ "American Latino Heritage Fund". National Park Foundation. Archived from the original on June 22, 2018. Retrieved June 5, 2018.
  7. ^ "President Obama to Establish César E. Chávez Nat'l Monument". whitehouse.gov. October 1, 2012. Archived from the original on January 17, 2023. Retrieved October 8, 2012 – via National Archives.
  8. ^ "César E. Chávez National Monument". National Park Service. Archived from the original on March 23, 2019. Retrieved October 8, 2012.
  9. ^ "National Chavez Center". Cesar Chavez Foundation. Archived from the original on February 28, 2023. Retrieved October 8, 2012.
  10. ^ "American Latino Heritage Fund Provides $150,000 To Establish The César E. Chávez National Monument". National Park Foundation. Archived from the original on January 17, 2023. Retrieved October 8, 2012.
  11. ^ a b Swan, Rachel (April 29, 2026). "Add a $1 billion detour for California high-speed rail to Cesar Chavez's legacy". San Francisco Chronicle.
  12. ^ a b Burger, James (October 24, 2013). "Kern sites recommended for national park". The Bakersfield Californian. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
  13. ^ Silverstein, William (May 23, 2023). "National Historical Park proposed for Kern County monuments". KBAK. Archived from the original on May 24, 2023. Retrieved May 24, 2023.
  14. ^ a b "Lawmakers Rethink Honoring Chávez After Misconduct Allegations". Keene Today. March 19, 2026. Retrieved March 24, 2026.
  15. ^ a b "Cesar Chavez abuse allegations force communities to rethink honors for the labor leader". CNN. March 19, 2026. Archived from the original on March 21, 2026. Retrieved March 24, 2026.
  16. ^ "César Chavez's name, once an honor, now carries a stain that officials want to scrub". Associated Press. March 20, 2026. Archived from the original on March 20, 2026. Retrieved March 24, 2026.
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