City of Reno

WHEREAS, César Estrada Chávez was born March 31, 1927, on a small farm near Yuma, Arizona that his grandfather homesteaded in the 1880s; and

WHEREAS, at age 10, life began as a migrant farm worker when his father lost the land during the Depression; and

WHEREAS, together with thousands of displaced families, the Chávez family migrated throughout the Southwest, laboring in fields and vineyards; and

WHEREAS, César left school after the eighth grade to help support his family; and

WHEREAS, in 1962, César moved his wife and eight children to Delano, California where he founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA); and

WHEREAS, from the beginning, César Chávez adhered to the principals of non-violence practiced by M. K. Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; and

WHEREAS, in 1965, César conducted a 25-day fast to reaffirm the UFW’s commitment to non-violence. The late Senator Robert F. Kennedy flew to Delano to be with him when he ended the fast; and

WHEREAS, on August 8, 1994, César E. Chávez became the second Mexican American to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States. The award was presented posthumously by President Bill Clinton.

NOW THEREFORE, I, Robert A. Cashell, Sr., Mayor of the City of Reno, do hereby proclaim

Monday, March 31, 2008, as a day to honor César Chávez

In and for the City of Reno, Nevada, I hereby urge the citizens of our
community to recognize and participate in this important event.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have set my hand and caused the Seal of the City of Reno, Nevada, to be affixed this thirty-first day of March 2008.

Robert A. Cashell, Sr.
Mayor
City of Reno