About the Book
This book is a unique, single-volume treatment offering original source material on the life, accomplishments, disappointments, and lasting legacy of one of American history's most celebrated social reformers—Cesar Chavez.
Two decades after Cesar Chavez's death, this timely book chronicles the drive for a union of one of American society's most exploited groups—farm workers. Encyclopedia of Cesar Chavez is a valuable one-volume source based on the most recent research and available documentation. Historian Roger Bruns documents how Chavez and his United Farm Workers (UFW), against formidable odds, organized farm laborers into a force that for the first time successfully took on the might of California's agribusiness interests to achieve greater wages and better working conditions.
Set against the backdrop of the 1960s, a time of assassinations, war protests, civil rights battles, and reform efforts for poor and minority citizens, the approximately 100 entries in this encyclopedia provide a glimpse into the events, organizations, men and women, and recurring themes that impacted the life of Cesar Chavez. It also contains a section of primary documentation—useful not only to enhance the understanding of this social and political movement, but also as source material for students.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Entries
Agbayani Village
Agribusiness of California
Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975 (ALRA)
Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC)
Alinsky, Saul
Arizona Fast, 1972
Boycotts
Bracero Program
Brown, Jerry
Bruce Church, Inc.
California Migrant Ministry (CMM)
Chatfield, LeRoy
Chavez, Helen
Chavez, Juana
Chavez, Librado
Chavez, Manuel
Chavez, Richard
Chicano Movement
Coachella Strike, 1973
Cohen, Jerry
Community Organizing
Community Service Organization (CSO)
Constitutional Convention of United Farm Workers, 1973
Contract Signings, 1970
Contreras, Rufino
de la Cruz, Jessie
DiGiorgio Fruit Corporation
Drake, Jim
El Malcriado
Fasts
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Surveillance
Forty Acres
Founding Convention, National Farm Workers Association, 1962
Fresno County Jail, 1973
Galarza, Ernesto
Gallo Wine Company
"Game, The,"
Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand (Mahatma)
Ganz, Marshall
Giumarra Vineyards
Govea, Jessica
Grape Strike, 1965
Hartmire, Chris
Higgins, George
Huerta, Dolores
International Brotherhood of the Teamsters (IBT)
Itliong, Larry
Kennedy, Robert
King, Martin Luther, Jr.
Kircher, William
La Paz
Lettuce Strike, 1979
Levy, Jacques
Lyons, Mack
Mahoney, Roger
March (Peregrinación) to Sacramento, 1966
McDonnell, Donald
McFarland Rose Grafters Strike, 1965
McWilliams, Carey
Meany, George
Medina, Eliseo
Modesto March, 1975
Nathan, Sandy
Nonviolent Protest
One Thousand Mile March, 1975
Oxnard Organizing Campaign, 1958
Padilla, Gilbert
Perelli-Minetti Strike and Boycott, 1966
"Plan of Delano,"
Proposition 14, 1976
Proposition 22, 1972
Ranch Committees
Reuther, Walter
Rodriguez, Arturo
Ross, Fred
Salad Bowl Strike, 1970
Salandini, Victor
Salinas Jail, 1970
Schenley Boycott, 1965
Short-Handled Hoe
Steinberg, Lionel
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
Texas Melon Strike, 1966
Unionization Attempts on Behalf of Farm Workers
United Farm Workers (UFW)
U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Migratory Labor Hearings, 1966
Valdez, Luis
Vera Cruz, Philip
Virgin of Guadalupe
Wrath of Grapes Campaign, 1986
Primary Documents
Annotated Bibliography
Index
About the Author :
Roger Bruns is a historian and former deputy executive director of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission at the National Archives in Washington, DC.
Review :
A strong introduction provides a broad historical context for Chavez's life and the United Farm Workers movement. The extensive index provides added access points to topics covered within entries. . . . Summing Up: Recommended.
An excellent resource for users interested in this facet of labor history and social reform.
Informative and interesting . . . a tribute to the work of Cesar Chavez and a reminder of what that work has done to change the world. It is recommended for all libraries.
