Home > Exhibits > Introduction
Early Life of Cesar Chavez
Cesar Chavez, first president of the UFW and internationally respected spokesman for Chicano and Latino Americans, came from humble beginnings. Born in Yuma, Arizona in 1927 into a Mexican American family, as a child Chavez picked every conceivable crop in the sun-baked fields of Arizona and California with his parents and four siblings. His education ended at the eighth grade (Chavez ultimately attended more than thirty schools in ten years). Chavez joined the United States Navy in 1944 and served a tour of duty in the South Pacific during World War II.
Chavez first honed his organizing skills in 1952 with a Mexican American barrio-based organization called the Community Services Organization (CSO). Working in the East San Jose barrio of Sal Si Puedes,- which translates as "get out if you can" - Chavez battled racial and economic discrimination and coordinated voter registration drives across California and Arizona. Chavez was a dedicated community organizer, but he never forgot the migrant workers in the fields.
Chavez speaking to UFWOC staff, 1960s (Photo by Chris Sanchez)
Cesar Chavez holds his diploma after graduating from the eighth grade at the age of 15, 1942