For 10-mile stretch of Fresno roads, old is new again after latest name change
Street signs in Fresno that once proudly honored Civil Rights activist Cesar Chavez began to be taken down Friday as part of an extensive removal process along a 10-mile stretch of roads.
City leaders elected to remove the Cesar Chavez name and have the three combined streets reverted to their original names less than two years ago after they were changed to celebrate Chavez.
The change back of roughly 200 street signs is part of the aftermath from a New York Times investigation in March that reported Chavez allegedly groomed and abused children and raped women.
Among Chavez’s victims was fellow Civil Rights icon Dolores Huerta, who broke decades of silence and confirmed such abuse.
The street sign changes coincide with the Fresno County Board of Supervisors’ vote to rename Cesar Chavez Day as Fresno County Farmworker and Agriculture Appreciation Day.
Chavez died at 66 in 1993.
The project to revert the street signs to California Avenue, Ventura Street and Kings Canyon Road was expected to be completed next week.
