| César E. Chávez National Monument (Nuestra Señora Reina de la Paz) | |
|---|---|
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape) | |
César E. Chávez burial site | |
| Location | Kern County,California,USA |
| Nearest city | Bakersfield, CA |
| Coordinates | 35°13′38″N118°33′41″W / 35.2273°N 118.5614°W /35.2273; -118.5614 |
| Area | 116 acres (47 ha)[1] |
| Authorized | October 8, 2012 |
| Visitors | 15,472 (in 2017)[2] |
| Governing body | National Park Service |
| Website | Cesar E. Chavez National Monument |
César E. Chávez National Monument,[3] also known asNuestra Señora Reina de la Paz, is a 116-acre (47 ha)U.S. National Monument inKeene,Kern County,California, located about 32 miles away fromBakersfield, California. The property was the headquarters of theUnited Farm Workers (UFW), and home toCésar Chávez from the early 1970s until his death in 1993. Chávez's gravesite is located in the property's gardens along with that of his wife,Helen Fabela Chávez. Originally developed as a headquarters and worker housing area for a quarry, it served as a tuberculosis sanitarium (known as Stony Brook Sanitorium) in the early 1900s,[3] until its acquisition by the UFW in the early 1970s.

Cesar E. Chavez National Monument was established byPresidentBarack Obama on October 8, 2012, by proclamation under authority of theAntiquities Act. The monument is located among theTehachapi Mountains inKeene, California, about 32 miles (51 km) southeast ofBakersfield. The property is known as Nuestra Señora Reina de la Paz (La Paz), which was designated as aNational Historic Landmark along with the monument on October 8, 2012.

The monument is the 398th unit in the National Park System and is managed collaboratively by the National Park Service and the National Chavez Center. The center and members of the Chávez family donated properties of La Paz to the federal government to establish the national monument. Initial funding was provided by theNational Park Foundation[4] and the America Latino Heritage Fund.[5] Some of the monument's services and programs are still in development, but a visitor center and memorial garden where Chavez is buried are open to the public.[6][7][8][9] Certain areas of the monument are closed to the public due to the Chávez family still living in La Paz, and members of the UFW still working in the UFW offices located on the property.

In October 2013, the National Park Service identified the site as one of several to be part of a proposed newNational Historical Park to commemorate the life and work of Cesar Chávez and thefarm worker movement.[10] Other sites for the proposed new park include the Filipino Community Hall inDelano, California (headquarters of theDelano grape strike),The Forty Acres (the original UFW headquarters in Delano),McDonnell Hall inSan Jose, and theSanta Rita Center inPhoenix, Arizona.[10]
Legislation for redesignation of site was reintroduced in 2023.[11]