César Chávez site recognition sought

The late United Farm Workers founder already has his own postage stamp. Next could be federal recognition of the landmarks in his abundantly active life, under a bill set for approval by the House of Representatives.

"I hope . . . future generations may understand who César Chávez was and the significance of his work," Rep. Hilda Solis, D-Calif., said earlier this year.

Solis' legislation gives the Interior Department three years to study sites "significant to the life of César E. Chávez and the farm-labor movement in the western United States." Officials will examine ways to preserve the sites and interpret them to the public.

These sites could range from East San Jose, Calif., where Chávez began community organizing after World War II, to the dusty San Joaquin Valley farm town of Delano, Calif., where he began an early version of the UFW in 1962.

In time, these various sites and others like them might be designated national historic landmarks or added to the 76,000 locations on the National Register of Historic Places. Theoretically, some eventually might be considered for inclusion in the national park system.

"We want to make sure we find the most appropriate locations," Sonia Melendez, a spokeswoman for Solis, said Monday.

Solis authored similar legislation in the last Congress, but Republican leaders never brought it up for a vote. This year, with Democrats in charge and 69 House members signed on as co-sponsors, the measure is moving quickly.

The bill is a modest one that stops far short of designating a legal holiday honoring Chávez. Bills to establish a Chávez national holiday have been introduced repeatedly, including one that gathered 60 House co-sponsors last year. Consistently, they've died on the vine.

Other bills have sought to establish a congressional gold medal in Chávez's name, and they likewise have stalled. Some of this stop-and-go traffic comes with the Capitol Hill territory, as relatively few of the roughly 2,000 House bills that are introduced each year are passed.

Chávez, moreover, isn't universally embraced in Congress, which often is attuned to the large agribusiness firms he spent his life fighting. For example, none of the 11 California House members whose districts span the farm-rich San Joaquin Valley has signed on as a co-sponsor of the Chávez bill, which was introduced six months ago.

Eight states designate some kind of official Chávez Day, including Arizona, California and Texas.

Did you know . . .

César Estrada Chávez rose from the agricultural fields to co-found the United Farm Workers. He was born on March 31, 1927, in a small adobe home near Yuma. He died on April 23, 1993, near his birthplace.