Our Stories
The Chicano Park Museum & Cultural Center
We all assembled at the proposed park site. The bulldozers were leveling the land. All of a sudden, people encircled the equipment to stop the work. Then, facing potential arrest and jail sentences on the launching of National Earth Day, we occupied the space for 12 days. That first night we met at Señora Gomez’s house—Jose Gomez’s mother—where we established the Chicano Park Steering Committee to negotiate with the city on behalf of the community.
From Dream to Reality My dream was to build a Museum to document and share the community’s rich and vibrant history. However, it took more than 30 years for that dream to become a reality. First, the SDCC School District would temporarily use the existing building at Chicano Park, while they built a separate facility for their classes. They moved out in 2014. In the meantime, I completed the incorporation papers for the Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center. Then I worked on a facility use plan and began negotiating with the City of San Diego for the building. By 2013, Chicano Park and its murals had been listed on the National Register of Historic Places and two years later became a National Landmark.
On August 7, 2018, the City of San Diego approved the facility that would become the home of the Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center. Tomasa “Tommie” Camarillo, president of the Chicano Park Steering Committee and local archivist, gathered and catalogued historical documentation about Chicano Park’s history for the past 50+ years, that will be part of the museum’s collection. Together, we will focus on art, history, and science of the Chicana/o, Mexican, and Indigenous communities of the borde region of the Americas. It’s a cultural center inclusive of a museum and an archive for educational research nd community enhancement, engagement, and enjoyment. We will open our doors fall of 2022.
On the third day of the land Take-Over, the Cacho family, farmers in the South Bay, led by Delia Cacho, SDUS student at the time, loaned us a tractor to help level and prepare the land into a park, as the city had discontinued the bulldozing crew from leveling the land. Soon, we were joined by members of the community who began landscaping the site. Residents Diane Bolivar, Maria Garcia, Laura Rodriguez, and others brought food for the volunteers. Our voices were heard by the bureaucrats. After the twelve-day occupation, we finally had space set aside for the community’s enjoyment and recreation: Chicano Park had become a reality.
Chicano Park Takeover – April 22, 1970 (Photo courtesy Photograph©Robert Burroughs)
Chicano Park Museum & Cultural Center (Photo courtesy of Chicano Park Musuem & Cultural Center)
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San Diego Latino Legacy – Timeline • Milestones • Stories
Chapter 4 – The Rise & Legacy of the Chicano Movement
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