The Battle of Chavez Ravine
Brooke L. Thomas
Anne Arundel Community College
History and Background
“The story of Chavez Ravine is intertwined with the social and political climate of the 1950s, or the ‘Red Scare’ era,” according to PBS (2017). Chavez Ravine is located in a valley just a few miles from downtown Los Angeles. Chavez Ravine is “named for Julian Chavez, one of the first Los Angeles County Supervisors in the 1800s” (PBS, 2017). A “self-sufficient and tight-knit community” (PBS, 2017) that is home to generations of Mexican Americans. Chavez is an example, which is rare, of small town life within a large urban city. According to PBS (2017), “its residents ran their own schools and churches and grew their own food …show more content…
The Federal Housing Act of 1949 “granted money to cities from the federal government to build public housing projects,” and Los Angeles Mayor, Fletcher Bowron, “voted and approved a housing project containing 10,000 new units—thousands of which would be located in Chavez Ravine” (PBS, 2017). Chavez Ravine was seen as a “vacant shantytown” and an “eyesore” by outsiders, and the 300-plus acres were “reserved by the Los Angeles city of Housing as a prime location for re-development’ (PBS, 2017). Frank Wilkinson, the assistant director of the Los Angeles City Housing Authority, was one of the main supporters behind Elysian Park Heights. In 1952, Wilkinson “faced questioning by the House Un-American Activities Committee…was fired from his job and sentenced to one year in jail” (PBS, 2017). Bowron and Wilkinson had an effect on Chavez Ravine because their actions made way for the tear down of the small town. They provided the means necessary to pinpoint Chavez Ravine as a location that is poorly developed and won’t be missed. Their approval evacuated residents and created a ghost …show more content…
It should be more of a democracy when taking land away from the community and residents. There should be home already built and ready for them to move into, compromise has to be made from those wanting to take the land. Many values their homes especially if that is all they have. Legislation should be emplaced for the small towns, not just cities. Chavez Ravine “was a pleasant, hidden, semi-rural Mexican American Brigadoon that, nonetheless, offered an ideal target for intensified ‘modernization’” (Hines, 1997). Chavez Ravine was once a home to many, but has become known as a
Brooke L. Thomas
Anne Arundel Community College
History and Background
“The story of Chavez Ravine is intertwined with the social and political climate of the 1950s, or the ‘Red Scare’ era,” according to PBS (2017). Chavez Ravine is located in a valley just a few miles from downtown Los Angeles. Chavez Ravine is “named for Julian Chavez, one of the first Los Angeles County Supervisors in the 1800s” (PBS, 2017). A “self-sufficient and tight-knit community” (PBS, 2017) that is home to generations of Mexican Americans. Chavez is an example, which is rare, of small town life within a large urban city. According to PBS (2017), “its residents ran their own schools and churches and grew their own food …show more content…
The Federal Housing Act of 1949 “granted money to cities from the federal government to build public housing projects,” and Los Angeles Mayor, Fletcher Bowron, “voted and approved a housing project containing 10,000 new units—thousands of which would be located in Chavez Ravine” (PBS, 2017). Chavez Ravine was seen as a “vacant shantytown” and an “eyesore” by outsiders, and the 300-plus acres were “reserved by the Los Angeles city of Housing as a prime location for re-development’ (PBS, 2017). Frank Wilkinson, the assistant director of the Los Angeles City Housing Authority, was one of the main supporters behind Elysian Park Heights. In 1952, Wilkinson “faced questioning by the House Un-American Activities Committee…was fired from his job and sentenced to one year in jail” (PBS, 2017). Bowron and Wilkinson had an effect on Chavez Ravine because their actions made way for the tear down of the small town. They provided the means necessary to pinpoint Chavez Ravine as a location that is poorly developed and won’t be missed. Their approval evacuated residents and created a ghost …show more content…
It should be more of a democracy when taking land away from the community and residents. There should be home already built and ready for them to move into, compromise has to be made from those wanting to take the land. Many values their homes especially if that is all they have. Legislation should be emplaced for the small towns, not just cities. Chavez Ravine “was a pleasant, hidden, semi-rural Mexican American Brigadoon that, nonetheless, offered an ideal target for intensified ‘modernization’” (Hines, 1997). Chavez Ravine was once a home to many, but has become known as a