Cesar Chavez dedicated his life to a labor movement for farm workers. His unique background, his first-hand knowledge of the people's issues, and his superior organizational skills brought his successful organization of the National Farm Workers Association (later named United Farm Workers), even against opposition from the government, the Teamsters Union, and the grape growers. It is the purpose of this paper to describe his background, the nature of his superior organizing ability, and the sociological forces that shaped the Chavez farm workers' movement.
Until he was ten years old, Cesar Chavez, the oldest of five children, lived on a farm near Yuma, Arizona. The 160 acres had come into his family through a government grant to his grandfather when land was awarded to those who would homestead it (Terzian 2). Chavez' father was a dirt farmer, and Chavez was reared in a lifestyle that was close to the earth. The activities of the family revolved around planting, harvesting, and selling, and Chavez actively worked in the family's farming and marketing concerns.
As a boy he saw migrant families come and go. He worked alongside the children of the migrants and played with them at the end of each day's picking. He observed how humanely his father treated the migrant families, always paying in cash at the end of the day from money saved during the winter. He provided food, comfortable shelter, showering facilities and fresh soap for the migrant families. Chavez' father commented that "they are the children of God" (Terzian 5), and they deserve fresh soap and good treatment. The elder Chavez was deeply religious. Even during the lean years which came during the Depression, he saw God providing for his family through the abundant bounty of the earth. The family always had plenty of food, even if at times there was little money.
In June of 1937 the family lost the farm as farm prices had reached a new low. The family sol...