by Miriam Pawel
The memories were still fresh, though Gutierrez was seventy-nine years old: The pride he felt marching in the peregrinación. The admiration when he watched Chavez plan strategy. The annoyance when Chavez challenged Gutierrez’s car allowance. The disappointment when direct mail appeals began to carry Cesar Chavez’s name as the return address, instead of the UFW’s. The defiance when Manuel Chavez delivered the message that Gutierrez should shut down the Arizona farmworkers union. The anger when his efforts to help Arizona farmworkers were undermined.
Gutierrez smiled, at peace with his memories. He embraced Cesar Chavez in all his complexity. “Cesar was my mentor,” Gutierrez said. Palms up, he held his right hand above his head and lowered his left near the floor. On balance, he said, the good outweighed the bad. It was not even close.
Acknowledgments
I am grateful to all the people who helped me over the last nine years to understand Cesar Chavez, who educated me not only about the farm worker movement but about agriculture, labor unions, organizing, social movements, California history, Catholicism, and Mexican culture. If I tried to thank everyone, I would surely leave some out. Many are cited in the list of interviewees; some whose contributions were immeasurable do not appear. My profound thanks for all the conversations and insights, the cups of tea and the glasses of wine.
I am indebted to those who made the history, and to those who preserved it. I am grateful that Cesar Chavez recognized the historic nature of his quest and that advisers such as LeRoy Chatfield and archivists such as Philip Mason helped preserve the documentation. Chatfield’s work both in the early days of the movement and in more recent years has provided scholars with an invaluable resource. I owe special thanks to the staff at the Reuther Library at Wayne State, who have over the course of almost a decade of visits been unfailingly helpful and supportive, often under trying circumstances. My thanks to Elizabeth Myers, William LeFevre, and, especially, Mary J. Wallace, for her patience and unflagging help in untangling the audio archives that were so crucial to my research.
Jeffrey Burns at the archives of the Archdiocese of San Francisco guided me not only through relevant collections there but pointed me to others. Thanks also to Kevin Feeney, archivist at the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and to Polly Armstrong and Ignacio Ornelas at the Green Library at Stanford. Several colleagues graciously shared observations and research. Thanks to Felipe Hinojosa, Gabriel Thompson, and Bruce Perry.
A fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities enabled me to complete my research. A two-week stay at Mesa Refuge was a writer’s dream.
For the photographic display, I’m indebted to Mary Wallace and to Wendy Vissar, whose creative counsel and technical expertise helped shape a compelling visual narrative.
Writing is a solitary pursuit, but I had a wonderful support team. My agent, Gloria Loomis, believed in the book from the beginning. At Bloomsbury, I’m indebted to Laura Phillips, Rob Galloway, and especially to Peter Ginna, whose thoughtful editing and guidance made this a far better book. John Hoeffel caught errors that no one else did. My three readers helped me think through both what I wanted to say and how to say it; many thanks to Sam Enriquez, Geoff Mohan, and above all to my husband, Michael Muskal, for his wise counsel and enduring faith and encouragement.
Thanks to everyone who understood the importance of this biography, and especially to those who trusted me to tell the story of someone who changed their lives.
Bibliography
This book is drawn chiefly from the extensive array of primary sources available in more than a dozen public archives. In addition to written documentation, the UFW archives at Wayne State University include hundreds of tape recordings of union board meetings, conferences, and conversations. In the course of my research, I listened to more than fifteen hundred hours of tapes, including recordings of thirty national executive board meetings between December 1973 and December 1980. Several dozen additional tapes of conferences, staff meetings, interviews, and public events between 1967 and 1981 also provided rich source material.
Audiotapes made between 1969 and 1975 by Jacques E. Levy, Chavez’s official biographer, are also an invaluable resource, documenting many key junctures in the union’s history. A third important source of tapes is available on the Farmworker Movement Documentation Project website; I relied in particular on a series of interviews conducted by Fred Ross, mainly in March 1969 (the Fred Ross Sr. Oral History Archive).
I was also privileged to have access to private collections of several key participants in the farm worker movement. In addition, Bruce Perry, who conducted research on Chavez for several years, generously shared with me written material and more than two hundred interviews recorded in the mid-1990s.
Over the last seven years, I have interviewed more than eighty individuals who knew Chavez in a wide range of capacities. Those conversations helped me craft the biographical narrative and provided essential background. They are cited where relevant and a full list of interviewees is included. All quotations in the book, however, are drawn from primary sources.
Abbreviations
Abbreviations for individual archives follow their identification below. The Walter P. Reuther Labor Library at Wayne State University in Detroit is the repository for archives of the UFW and more than a dozen related collections. I use the following abbreviations for collections cited:
ADMIN
UFW Administration
ADMIN3
UFW Administration Part III
CENT
UFW Central Administration
DH
Dolores Huerta Papers
GANZ
Marshall Ganz Papers
INFO
UFW Information and Research
NFWM
National Farm Worker Ministry
NFWA
National Farm Workers Association
OOP1
Office of the President, Part I
OOP2
Office of the President, Part II
OOP3
Office of the President, Part III
ROSS
Fred Ross Collection
TAY
Ronald Taylor Papers
UFWOC
United Farm Workers Organizing Committee
UFWA
United Farm Workers Audio archives
Other abbreviations in the notes and text:
NEB
National Executive Board of the United Farm Workers
ALRB
California Agricultural Labor Relations Board
ALRA
California Agricultural Labor Relations Act
NARA
National Archives and Research Administration
Archives
Jerry Cohen Papers, Amherst College Archives and Special Collections, Amherst College Library
El Teatro Campesino Papers, University of California at Santa Barbara (ETC)
Farm Labor Collection, Archives of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Los Angeles (AALA)
Field Foundation Papers, Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas, Austin
Gerald Ford Presidential Library, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Herman Gallegos Papers, Special Collections, Cecil Green Library, Stanford University
Industrial Areas Foundation Records, University of Illinois, Chicago (IAF UIC)
Industrial Areas Foundation Records, Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas, Austin (IAF Austin)
Jacques E. Levy Research Collection on Cesar Chavez, Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library (JEL)
Maricopa County Organizing Project Records, Arizona State University, Phoenix (MCOP)
Donald McDonnell/Spanish Mission Band papers, Archives of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, Menlo Park (AASF)
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Simi Valley, California
Fred Ross Papers, Special Collections, Cecil Green Library, Stanford University
San Joaquin
Valley Farm Labor Collection, California State University, Fresno (SJVFLC)
Emil Schwarzhaupt Foundation Papers, University of Chicago, Chicago (ESF)
Synanon Foundation Archives, UCLA
United Packinghouse Workers of America Papers, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison (UPWA)
United States Department of Labor, Record Group 174, Records Relating to the Mexican Labor (“Bracero”) Program, National Archives and Research Administration, San Bruno
Private Collections
Cois Byrd papers
Tom Dalzell papers
Chris Hartmire papers
Eliseo Medina papers
Jessica Govea papers
Dissertations
Brown, Jerald. “The United Farm Workers Grape Strike and Boycott.” Ph.D. diss., Cornell University, 1972.
Pitti, Gina. “To Hear About God in Spanish.” Ph.D. diss., Stanford University, 2003.
Rose, Margaret. “Women in the United Farm Workers.” Ph.D. diss., University of California, Los Angeles, 1988.
Thompson, Mark. “The Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee, 1959–1961.” M.A. thesis, Cornell University, 1963.
Books
Bardacke, Frank. Trampling out the Vintage. New York: Verso, 2011.
Dunne, John Gregory. Delano: The Story of the California Grape Strike. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1967.
Ganz, Marshall. Why David Sometimes Wins. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009.
Garcia, Matthew. From the Jaws of Victory. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2012.
Levy, Jacques. Cesar Chavez: Autobiography of La Causa. New York: W. W. Norton, 1975.
London, Joan, and Henry Anderson. So Shall Ye Reap. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1970.
Matthiessen, Peter. Sal Si Puedes (Escape if You Can): Cesar Chavez and the New American Revolution. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1969.
Mitchell, Don. They Saved the Crops. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2012.
Pawel, Miriam. The Union of Their Dreams. New York: Bloomsbury Press, 2009.
Ross, Fred. Conquering Goliath: Cesar Chavez at the Beginning. Keene, CA: El Taller Grafico Press, 1989.
Taylor, Ronald B. Chavez and the Farm Workers. Boston: Beacon Press, 1975.
Websites
Farmworker Documentation Project (FMDP), www.farmworkermovement.com
Fred Ross Sr. Oral History Archive (Ross Tapes), www.farmworkermovement.com/media/oral_history
FBI files (only a fraction of the files are available online), http://foia.fbi.gov/foiaindex/chavez.htm
California Agricultural Labor Relations Board, http://alrb.ca.gov
Interviews
Douglass Adair, August 15, 2010
Henry P. Anderson, March 31 and June 2, 2011
Tom Barry, January 20, 2012
Jim Braun, June 27, 2012
Kit Bricca, July 9, 2013
Wendy Goepel Brooks, August 19, 2011, and June 7, 2013
Mario Bustamante, May 13, 2005, June 22 and September 3, 2008
Chava Bustamante, June 17, 2008
Cois Byrd, February 19, 2008
Terence Cannon, June 14, 2012
Ron Caplan, November 28, 2011
William Carder, June 26, 2006, and June 18, 2008
LeRoy Chatfield, February 28, 2013
Anna Chavez, January 19, 2012
Librado Chavez Jr., March 7, 2012
Bob (Jasper) Coffman, December 17, 2011
Jerry Cohen, April 23 and June 5, 2008, June 5, 2009
Ida Cousino, September 17 and December 17, 2011
Jerry Cox, May 25, 2012
Tom Dalzell, June 26, 2006
Sue Carhart Darweesh, June 15, 2012
Mark Day, November 17, 2011
Alfredo DeAvila, February 2, 2012
Frank Denison, February 12, 2008
Don Devereux, August 31, 2011
Susan Drake, September 22, 2011
Peter Edelman, November 28, 2012
Ellen Eggers, May 7, June 28, and December 17, 2008
Bill (Rampujan) Esher, September 20, 2011
Bob Fitch, June 21, 2013
Ed Frankel, September 11, 2011
Herman Gallegos, March 31, 2011
Marshall Ganz, October 2, 2005
Margaret Govea, March 2, 2007, and June 9, 2008
Gustavo Gutierrez, November 1, 2011
Chris Hartmire, June 23, August 20, September 19, and October 31, 2006, and March 14, 2007
David Havens, September 26, 2012
Joe Herman, July 18, 2006
Ruben Hernandez, November 30, 2011
Fred Hirsch, September 22, 2011
Tom Hubbard, February 3, 2012
Donna Haber Kornberg, September 15, 2011
Henry Lacayo, November 21, 2011
Gretchen Laue, June 22 and September 3, 2008
Michael Lee, March 26, 2013
Sabino Lopez, August 5, 2005, and September 24, 2007
Howard Marguleas, February 2, 2006, and March 14, 2011
Philip Mason, October 20, 2008
Peter Mattheissen, July 15, 2013
Donald McDonnell, January 26 and November 11, 2011
Eliseo Medina, February 22, July 3, and December 29, 2008
Liza Hirsch Medina, May 8, 2006
Mike Miller, July 11, 2012
Crosby Milne, January 26, 2007
Marion Moses, June 20, 2006, January 27, 2011, and February 25, 2012
John Moyer, April 5, 2011
Kathy Murguia, November 25, 2011, and August 3, 2012
Tom Nassif, February 18, 2011
Sandy Nathan, May 17, 2007, February 25, 2008, and April 11 and June 18, 2008
Richard Ofshe, August 4, 2011
Antonio Orendain, December 11, 2011
Esther Padilla, May 21, 2008
Gilbert Padilla, June 20, 2007, May 21, 2008, and January 25, 2011
Rosario Pelayo, May 13, 2005
Jose Renteria, August 5, 2005
Cruz Reynoso, August 3, 2011
Virginia Rodriguez, March 30, 2011
Fred Ross Jr., February 24, 2005
Jim Rutkowski, September 12, 2011
Lloyd Saatjian, July 12, 2006
Joe Serda, July 11, 2006
Dave Smith, January 22, 2013
Bob Thompson, June 6, 2011
Art Torres, June 6, 2013
Larry Tramutola, January 26, 2011
Luis Valdez, August 14, 2011, and June 21, 2013
Don Villarejo, June 6, 2011
Scott Washburn, August 20, 2008, and November 1, 2011
Martin Zaninovich, October 2, 2006, and September 20, 2007
Notes
Prologue
1 “mystical figure” www.mindfully.org/Reform/Cesar-Chavez9nov84.htm
2 argyle vest Photo courtesy of Michael G. Lee
3 pork tenderloin menu from Commonwealth Club papers, Hoover Institution Library, Box 500, Folder 16
Chapter 1
Sources: Oral histories by Cesar, Rita, and Richard Chavez and other family members, the earliest and most complete conducted in the late 1960s by Jacques Levy. Primary interviews include: multiple interviews by Levy with Cesar Chavez; Chavez family interview by Levy, Jul. 1969; Rita Chavez interviewed by Levy, May 22, 1969; Bruce Perry, Aug. 7, 1995; Paradigm Productions, n.d.; Santa Clara County Oral History project, Aug. 22, 2011; National Park Service interview, Nov. 22, 2011; Richard Chavez interviewed by Levy, May 7, 1969, and Jun. 16, 1974; Ross, Mar. 1969; Cal State Northridge Oral History project, Mar. 14, 1997; Paradigm Productions, n.d.; Juana Chavez interviewed by Cesar, Sep. 5, 1984; author interviews with Hernandez, Mary Chavez, and Librado (Lenny) Chavez Jr.
1 basic facts 1930 Census
2 crossed into Texas In the 1930 census, Librado and Dorotea reported crossing the border in 1898. In later accounts, Librado offered slightly different dates, but 1898 appears most likely. Birthdates are similarly murky. Librado’s obituary gave Aug. 17, 1881, as his b
irthday but in later records he gave his birth year as 1888, which would be more consistent with his accounts of crossing as a young child.
3 thriving business Tape of Juana Chavez interviewed by Cesar, Sep. 5, 1984, UFWA
4 filed a claim Deed, Yuma County Registrar-Recorder Office
5 To the south Map drawn by Richard Chavez, JEL, Box 20, Folder 430
6 bought the cluster of buildings Mortgages and deeds, Yuma County Recorder’s office
7 before she married Details of Juana’s life from Sep. 5, 1984, interview
8 deeded the farm Deed, Yuma County Recorder
9 auctioned off Yuma Daily Sun, legal announcements, Jul. 30, 1937; Oct. 29, 1937
10 filed suit Yuma Daily Sun, Dec. 7, 1937; Yuma County deeds
11 sold the land Yuma County deeds; Yuma Daily Sun, Jun. 9, 1939
Chapter 2
Sources: The account of the family’s early years in California is drawn from multiple oral histories by Cesar, Rita, and Richard Chavez (see Chapter 1 notes); author interviews with Hernandez and Librado Chavez Jr.
1 bestseller list http://www.steinbeckinstitute.org/grapes_historical.html
2 average student Miguel Hidalgo Junior High school records, courtesy of Bruce Perry
3 developed circuits JEL, Box 5, Folder 181
4 oversight in the grapes JEL, Box 1, Folder 132
5 dishonorably discharged Manuel Chavez navy record, NARA
6 one arrest FBI files refer to a Jan. 24, 1944, arrest that was dismissed; no records from the case survive. Chavez never mentioned it other than noting on his navy application that he was arrested for “fighting.” He often told a story about being arrested because he refused to sit on the Mexican side of the Delano movie theater, but I have found no documentation to support that incident.