born March 31, 1927, Yuma, Ariz., U.S.
died April 23, 1993, San Luis, Ariz.
U.S. organizer and leader of migrant farmworkers.
As the child of Mexican American migrant labourers, he spent his early years in a succession of migrant camps, attending school only sporadically. He spent two years in the Navy and had returned to migrant farmwork when, in 1962, he began organizing the largely Hispanic farmworkers of Arizona and California. A charismatic figure, he used strikes and nationwide boycotts to win union recognition and contracts from California grape and lettuce growers. He brought his union into the AFL-CIO , and in 1971 it became the United Farm Workers of America (UFW). He successfully battled the Teamsters Union for the right to organize field hands in the 1970s, but in later years his leadership faltered and the UFW declined. In recognition of his nonviolent activism and support of working people, Chavez was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously in 1994.