The Battle of Chavez Ravine refers to approximately ten years of racist violence (1951–1961) over the Mexican American community of Los Angeles' Chavez Ravine. The eventual result was the forced removal of the entire population of Mexican Americans, living in the community to make way for Dodger Stadium. The first proposal for the newly bought Chavez Ravine was to make way for public housing but later that public housing plan was then abandoned and ultimately followed by the dedication of Chavez Ravine as the future site of what is now Dodger Stadium.
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Originally, the tight-knit Chicano neighborhood was slated for redevelopment under the National Housing Act of 1949 - which provided federal money to build public housing. The Los Angeles Housing Authority began condemning the land of Chavez Ravine in 1951. Using the power of eminent domain, the City razed nearly the entire community over the period from 1952 to 1953. The planned public housing development was entitled "Elysian Park Heights" and was to be designed by Austrian architect Richard J. Neutra.
In the midst of the Red Scare of the 1950s, a group calling themselves the Citizens Against Socialist Housing (CASH) in 1953 successfully spearheaded the election of Norris Poulson for mayor. Upon his election, the "Elysian Park Heights" development was quashed and a public referendum was passed barring all public housing in Los Angeles. Following Mayor Poulson's lead, the City negotiated a deal with the federal government to abandon the public housing project with the stipulation that the by then nearly-vacant land be used for a "public purpose." The City then used the potential development of a baseball stadium as a lure for Brooklyn Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley to move from Brooklyn's Ebbets Field to Los Angeles. The City ended up trading the Chavez Ravine site to the Dodgers in exchange for a much smaller parcel of land where the minor league stadium, Wrigley Field, was located.
Manuel and Abrana Arechiga (often cited as "Avrana"), with their daughter Aurora Vargas (a widow, later surnamed Fernandez), were among the last residents to hold out. Forced removal by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) on May 9, 1959, resulted in the arrest of Aurora. Aurora Vargas was fined and briefly sent to jail for her resistance. Manuel Arechiga was the final hold out, living in a tent on the site of the demolished home for months. Stories are recounted of Manuel sitting in his tent with a shotgun, defending the ruins of his former home. Public sympathy for the Arechigas quickly waned, however, when subsequent news reports revealed that the Arechigas owned twelve rental houses elsewhere in Los Angeles. Many Angelenos consider the siege of the LASD on Manuel Arechiga as The Battle of Chavez Ravine. Arechiga eventually relented and accepted the city's offer of $10,500. After a decade, the battle was finally over.