Skip to main content

Cesar Chavez

Cesar Chavez
Usage Conditions Apply
Artist
Ernest Lowe
Sitter
Cesar Estrada Chavez, 31 Mar 1927 - 23 Apr 1993
Date
1966
Type
Photograph
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
Image/Sheet: 17 x 24.1 cm (6 11/16 x 9 1/2")
Topic
Exterior\Cityscape
Cesar Estrada Chavez: Male
Cesar Estrada Chavez: Social Welfare and Reform\Reformer\Labor leader
Cesar Estrada Chavez: Social Welfare and Reform\Reformer\Activist
Cesar Estrada Chavez: Military and Intelligence\Navy
Cesar Estrada Chavez: Civilian awards\Presidential Medal of Freedom
Portrait
Place
United States\California\Sacramento\Sacramento
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Copyright
© Ernest Lowe
Object number
NPG.2010.10
Exhibition Label
On March 17, 1966, Cesar Chavez and approximately 100 individuals set off on a march from the town of Delano and onto Highway 99. Hundreds of supporters gathered along the way through the farmland of California’s Central Valley. Twenty-five days later, when the procession arrived in Sacramento on Easter Sunday, the crowd had increased to 10,000, making this the largest demonstration of farm workers to date in the history of California.
This photograph was taken during Chavez’s address to the ecstatic audience. The movement had achieved its first victory a few days before the end of the pilgrimage when, afraid of bad publicity, Schenley Industries signed a contract with the National Farm Workers Association recognizing the union’s demands. In solidarity, the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee served as the signatory witness.
El 17 de marzo de 1966, César Chávez y alrededor de cien personas iniciaron una marcha desde el pueblo de Delano hacia la Carretera 99. Cientos de simpatizantes se les unieron a lo largo de la ruta a través de los campos del Valle Central de California. Veinticinco días después, cuando la procesión llegó a Sacramento el domingo de Pascua, los manifestantes ya sumaban 10,000, con lo cual esta ha sido la manifestación más grande de obreros campesinos en la historia de California hasta hoy.
Esta foto se tomó durante el discurso de Chávez ante la jubilosa audiencia. El movimiento había logrado su primera victoria pocos días antes de terminar la peregrinación, cuando Schenley Industries, temerosa de la mala prensa, firmó un convenio con la Asociación Nacional de Trabajadores Campesinos en el que reconocía las exigencias del sindicato. En un gesto solidario, el Comité Organizador de Trabajadores Agrícolas sirvió como testigo signatario.
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Location
Currently not on view