cesar e. chavez national monument is a u.s. national monument in keene, kern county, california, located about 32 miles away from bakersfield, california. the property was the headquarters of the united farm workers (ufw), and home to césar chávez from the early 1970s until his death in 1993. chávez's gravesite is located in the property's gardens along with that of his wife, helen fabela chávez. originally developed as a headquarters and worker housing area for a quarry, it served as a tuberculosis sanitarium (known as stony brook sanitorium) in the early 1900s, until its acquisition by the ufw in the early 1970s.