In Brief

Park Service Recommends New Cesar Chavez National Historic Park

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Cesar E. Chavez National Monument
President Barack Obama views the office of Cesar Chavez before the dedication ceremony for the Cesar E. Chavez National Monument in Keene, Calif., Oct. 8, 2012. (Image credit: Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

A proposed national park honoring Latino labor leader Cesar Chavez would preserve five sites in California and Arizona that played key roles in his life and the farmworkers' labor movement. The new park would incorporate the Cesar Chavez National Monument in Keene, Calif., dedicated by President Barack Obama in 2012.

The National Park Service recommends including the Forty Acres National Historic Landmark and the Filipino Community Hall in Delano, Calif., and a site called McDonnell Hall in San Jose, according to a resource study submitted to Congress on Thursday (Oct. 24). The Santa Rita Center in Phoenix, where Chavez staged a hunger strike protesting a law limiting farmworker's rights to strike, would also be added to the national park.

Creating a new national park requires a vote by Congress. The president can establish a new national monument via an executive order, as with the Cesar Chavez National Monument in 2012.

Read more: National Park Service

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Becky Oskin
Becky Oskin
Contributing Writer
Becky Oskin covers Earth science, climate change and space, as well as general science topics. Becky was a science reporter at Live Science and The Pasadena Star-News; she has freelanced for New Scientist and the American Institute of Physics. She earned a master's degree in geology from Caltech, a bachelor's degree from Washington State University, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz.