 The Cesar E. Chavez Foundation was selected in December 2004 to receive a $2.5 million grant from the California Cultural and Historical Endowment of the California State Library.
The grant will help fund phase two of the National Chavez Center at Nuestra Senora Reina de La Paz, construction of the Cesar E. Chavez Learning Institute, the nation's first and only museum and conference center for educating the public about Cesar's legacy and the courageous struggle to improve the working and living conditions of farm workers.
On March 31, 2005, Cesar Chavez Day of Service and Learning, more than 200 volunteers descended upon the National Chavez Center to prepare the North Unit for construction by cutting overgrown brush, and removing trash and other debris from the building.
From 1971 to 1993, the 15,500-square-foot building served as the space where farm workers learned, among other things, strike and boycott tactics and how to negotiate and administer labor contracts. Today, the North Unit stands as an abandoned and dilapidated structure-the victim of time and harsh elements of the Central Valley.
Construction of the Chavez Learning Institute is scheduled to begin this spring. Once fully completed, the institute will be comprised of an exhibit hall, library, and conference and retreat center. The exhibit hall will feature pictorial and interactive exhibits and oral histories on Cesar Chavez and the Farm Worker Movement. The library will house Cesar's personal papers, journals, and possessions, as well as archives dedicated to civil rights, environmental studies, and labor history. The conference and retreat center will offer students, nonprofit and community groups, businesses, and other interested organizations a facility in which to convene conferences on a variety of issues.
The National Chavez Center is located at 29700 Woodford-Tehachapi Road, approximately 30 miles east of Bakersfield, Calif. For more information or to make a donation to the Foundation for this project, please visit http://chavezfoundation.org or call (818) 265-0300 .
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