Local
San Francisco proposal would rename 3.5-mile street for women farmworkers
Supervisor Jackie Fielder has proposed changing Cesar Chavez Street to Las Campesinas, a name honoring female farmworkers. The measure would undergo months of review and require the mayor’s approval.
San Francisco Supervisor Jackie Fielder has proposed renaming Cesar Chavez Street Las Campesinas, Spanish for “female farmworkers,” in a move intended to honor women’s contributions to the farmworker labor movement and remove the name of union leader Cesar Chavez from the street.
Fielder introduced the proposal Tuesday. The 3.5-mile thoroughfare runs from Diamond Heights through Noe Valley and the Mission to the waterfront. If approved, Las Campesinas would be its third name since 1995.
The proposal begins a review process expected to take months and would need the mayor’s approval to take effect. A group co-chaired by City Assessor-Recorder Joaquin Torres considered possible names, weighing their connection to the city’s labor history and women’s contributions alongside practical concerns such as length and complexity.
“Latino history and heritage is San Francisco heritage,” Torres said. “Women’s voices are San Francisco heritage.”
The renaming effort follows allegations, reported earlier this year by The New York Times, that Chavez sexually abused women and girls decades ago. Chavez, who died in 1993, co-founded the National Farm Workers Association. The allegations prompted a broader push to remove his name from public places.