Bill Text: CA AJR16 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Chaptered

California Assembly Joint Resolution 16 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: McDonnell Hall: historic landmark.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 18-0)

Status: (Passed) 2011-09-28 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Res. Chapter 123, Statutes of 2011. [AJR16 Detail]

Download: California-2011-AJR16-Chaptered.html

BILL NUMBER: AJR 16	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	RESOLUTION CHAPTER  123
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  SEPTEMBER 28, 2011
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  SEPTEMBER 28, 2011
	ADOPTED IN SENATE  SEPTEMBER 8, 2011
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 31, 2011

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Members Campos and Alejo
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Allen, Ammiano, Beall, Bradford, Eng,
Fong, Roger Hern�ndez, Hueso, Lara, Bonnie Lowenthal, Monning,
Perea, V. Manuel P�rez, Swanson, and Wieckowski)
   (Coauthor: Senator Alquist)

                        AUGUST 16, 2011

   Relative to McDonnell Hall.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AJR 16, Campos. McDonnell Hall: historic landmark.
   This resolution would memorialize the National Park Service to
declare McDonnell Hall a national historic landmark. This resolution
would also urge the City of San Jose to similarly designate McDonnell
Hall as a historic landmark.



   WHEREAS, McDonnell Hall played an integral role in the life of
Cesar Chavez during his time in San Jose; and
   WHEREAS, McDonnell Hall was originally established by Father Don
McDonnell in the Sal Si Puedes barrio of San Jose as a parish of Our
Lady of Guadalupe; and
   WHEREAS, Cesar Chavez was one of the first people to attend the
newly established parish. Father McDonnell became a great friend and
mentor to Cesar Chavez. Father McDonnell's ideas about applying basic
Catholic doctrine to help migrant workers and others suffering from
social injustice inspired Cesar Chavez; and
   WHEREAS, Cesar Chavez later said of this experience that "M]y
education started when I met Father Donald McDonnell, who came to
'Sal Si Puedes' because there was no Catholic Church there, no
priest, and hundreds of Mexican-Americans. We were some of the first
members that joined his congregation for masses in a little Puerto
Rican hall that was just a broken-down shack. ... We became great
friends when I began to help him ... recite mass in the bracero camps
and in the county jail. We had long talks about farm workers. I knew
a lot about the work, but I didn't know anything about the
economics, and I learned quite a bit from him. He had a picture of a
worker's shanty and a picture of a grower's mansion. Everything he
said was aimed always to solve injustice"; and
   WHEREAS, Father McDonnell also introduced Cesar Chavez to Fred
Ross. Fred Ross taught Cesar Chavez the principles of organizing in
general, and in particular on organizing based in the local Catholic
church; and
   WHEREAS, It is strongly believed that Cesar Chavez started "La
Causa" in this eastside neighborhood of San Jose, which was referred
to by the residents as "Sal Si Puedes" or "Get Out If You Can"; and
   WHEREAS, Dolores Huerta, cofounder of the United Farm Workers, has
stated: "The farm worker movement started in San Jose"; and
   WHEREAS, In 2008, Congress directed the United States Department
of Interior to conduct a special resource study of sites in
California and Arizona that are significant to Cesar Chavez and the
farm labor movement, and to determine if any of those sites should be
declared a national historic landmark; and
   WHEREAS, The National Park Service is currently conducting that
study and is expected to reach a decision in November 2011; and
   WHEREAS, The City of San Jose's planning department is currently
reviewing a proposal to designate McDonnell Hall as a historic
landmark; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature memorializes the National
Park Service to declare McDonnell Hall a national historic landmark
for its importance to the life of Cesar Chavez; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Legislature urges the City of San Jose to
designate McDonnell Hall as a historic landmark and to include
McDonnell Hall in the current Cesar E. Chavez Historical Walkway; and
be it further
   Resolved, That the Legislature recognizes the importance of
McDonnell Hall to the farmworker movement in California; and be it
further
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the National Park Service and to the author for
appropriate distribution.