Cesar Chavez, farm labor leader, eats a piece of bread to end his 25-day fast at Delano, California. With him are Senator Robert F. Kennedy, who flew from Washington DC, and Chavez's wife. About 4,000 farm workers joined him in a symbolic bread-breaking ceremony marking the end of their leader's fasting for the principle of nonviolence.

Cesar Chavez (1927-1993) was an American labor leader and Civil Rights activist. He and Dolores Huerta co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (later the United Farm Workers union, UFW) in 1962. Originally a Mexican-American farm worker, Chavez became the best known Latino American Civil Rights activist. He was strongly promoted by the American labor movement, which was eager to enroll Hispanic members. Chavez' public-relations approach to unionism and aggressive but nonviolent tactics made the farm workers' struggle a moral cause with nationwide support. By the late 1970s, his efforts had forced growers to recognize the UFW as the bargaining agent for 50,000 field workers in California and Florida.

On verso: newspaper caption with date stamp affixed.

Wire photographs were originally transmitted over phonelines, then later, by satellite. They were first used in the early 1920s. Associated Press became a leader with this. After pigment touch-ups, etc., the print is put into a drum (like a drum scanner). The image gets converted into audio tones that are transmitted. The tones are received and beamed onto photo-sensitive paper. Wire photographs are copies without originals---they are hybrid, transmitted objects. (Britt Salvesen, Curator and Department Head, Photography Department, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, March 30-31, 2022)

This object has the following keywords:

• Cesar Chavez
• Cesar Chavez
• Civil Rights Movements
• Delano
• Farmworkers
• Helen Fabela Chávez
• Hunger strikes
• Injustice
• Kennedy Family
• Racial Discrimination
• Robert Kennedy
• Robert Kennedy
• United Farm Workers

• Image Dimensions: 6 15/16 x 8 7/16 in. (17.62 x 21.43 cm) Measured by Hudson, Karen
• Sheet Dimensions: 7 15/16 x 9 1/4 in. (20.16 x 23.5 cm) Measured by Hudson, Karen