Delano to Sacramento March
From 17 March to 10 April 1966, César Chávez led a 340-mile (550 km) pilgrimage from Delano to the California state capital Sacramento. Modelled on Gandhi's Salt March and framed explicitly as a penitential 'peregrinación', the march drew national media coverage and forced Schenley Industries — one of the largest Delano growers — to negotiate a contract before the marchers reached Sacramento. Seventy farmworkers started the march; 10,000 greeted them at the steps of the Capitol. The event became the defining image of the Chicano civil rights movement and demonstrated that non-violent direct action could win concrete victories for the poorest workers.
- Year: 1966 CE
