By Finding aid prepared by Erika Castaño (2008); updated by Elizabeth Nielsen (2011) and Natalia Fernández (2016 and 2023).
Title: Colegio César Chávez Collection, 1965-1982
Predominant Dates: 1976-1982
ID: MSS Colegio
Primary Creator: Colegio Cesar Chavez (Mount Angel, Or.)
Extent: 0.25 cubic feet. More info below.
Arrangement: The collection includes two series: Series 1: Colegio César Chávez Materials, 1965-1982 and Series 2: Photographic Materials, 1972-1982
Date Acquired: 00/00/2006
Languages of Materials: English [eng], Spanish;Castilian [spa]
The Colegio César Chávez was established in 1973 as a four year Chicano serving institution in Mount Angel, Oregon. The Colegio César Chávez Collection consists of correspondence, publications, and photographs from the Arthur and Karen Olivo and Andrew Parodi Family and depicts their time living on the college campus grounds.
The majority of the items from this collection have been digitized and are available upon request.
Additionally, there is a July 2012 oral history interview with Andrew Parodi and Karen Olivo regarding their experiences living at the Colegio.
The Colegio César Chávez Collection consists of materials that were collected by Arthur and Karen Olivo and their son Andrew Parodi. The materials include publications, correspondence, a bilingual college catalog, a Mount Angel College Yearbook, and photographs. The photographs depict the time period in which the Olivo and Parodi family lived on the grounds of the college campus. They include photographs of the campus, the Olivo and Parodi family gatherings on the campus grounds, and a poetry reading by the Chicano poet and activist Alurista (Alberto Baltazar Urista Heredia) at the Colegio.
The collection also includes a 1980 letter to Arthur Olivo from Oregon Governor Victor Atiyeh and a certificate documenting Olivo's appointment to the Oregon Occupational Information Coordinating Committee. A 1980 photograph of Olivo, Governor Atiyeh, and others (probably members of the Committee) is also part of the collection.
Three large posters, one by the artist Desiga, and two, a recruitment poster and a "you can be a leader" poster, by the artist Carlos Manriquez, dated 1977-1979. Manriquez is also the artist of a 1979 Colegio calendar. The calendar, consisting of four sheets plus a cover sheet, includes a timeline of significant events in Chicano history along with full color imagery depicting “jalapeño power.”
Recent acquisitions include the negatives from the 1972 La Raza event that were donated by the photographer Milt Johnson in 2021, and a variety of materials donated in 2023 by Nancy Bray who was active in the 1970s with Eugene Friends of the Farmworkers.
The majority of the items from this collection have been digitized and are available upon request.
Lastly, there is a July 2012 oral history interview with Andrew Parodi and Karen Olivo regarding their experiences living at the Colegio.
Colegio César Chávez, located in Mt. Angel, Oregon formed from the existing Mount Angel College in 1973. Mt. Angel College was established by the Catholic Order of Benedictine Sisters in 1888. The school was originally chartered as a women's academy. In 1897 it was re-chartered as normal school. In 1947 Mt. Angel Normal School became Mt. Angel Women's College and in 1957 Mt. Angel Women's College became coeducational due to mounting financial problems. As such, the college was subsequently renamed Mt. Angel College.
In 1973, Mt. Angel College lost its accreditation from Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges because of its lack of financial stability. Two faculty members, Sonny Montes, Director of Ethnic Affairs, and Ernesto Lopez, Dean of Admissions, proposed that the institution redirect the focus of the college to be a Chicano serving institution.
On December 12, 1973 Mt. Angel College officially became Colegio César Chávez. College founders and students considered a number of names but chose the farm labor activist César Chávez as their namesake.
As the first and only independent Chicano-oriented and managed four-year college to emerge in the nation, Colegio César Chávez occupies an unparalleled place in Chicano history. According to the Chicano scholar Carlos Maldonado, "Colegio César Chávez was a product of converging social and educational forces of the Chicano movement and innovation in higher education". The mission of the Colegio was to provide educational opportunities for people who were denied access to higher education, to create a "college without walls" that emphasized collaboration between students, staff, administrators, their families, and the greater community. The Colegio also sought to provide an educational setting that was completely bilingual and bicultural. Students were required to take 15 credits in each of the four core areas: social science; the humanities; natural sciences/mathematics; and oral/written bilingual communications. In addition, life experience was also recognized as learning and students received credits for this as well.
Colegio César Chávez also served as a source of Chicano culture and activism in Oregon; this was accomplished through performances, lectures and guest speakers at the college. Among the significant Chicano leaders that visited and supported the Colegio were César Chávez, Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales, José Ángel Gutiérrez, and Chicano poets Alurista and Abelardo "Lalo" Delgado.
Constantly plagued by financial difficulties, administrative instability, and lack of support from the external community, Colegio César Chávez lost its accreditation in 1981. The last classes were held in 1982 and the Colegio officially closed their doors in June 1983. The campus was abandoned and their main creditor, HUD, foreclosed on the property. HUD was set to auction off the campus when an anonymous donor interceded. The ownership of the land and the buildings occupied by the college reverted back to the Benedictine Sisters of Mt. Angel in 1985.
For more information about the history of the Colegio, read the book Colegio Cesar Chavez, 1973-1983 : a Chicano struggle for educational self-determination by Carlos S. Maldonado published in 2000, as well as the 2011 book Sonny Montes and Mexican American Activism in Oregon, by Glenn Anthony May, was published by the Oregon State University Press.
More Extent Information: 31 photographs; 132 negatives, 31 negative film strips; 3 boxes, including 2 oversize boxes
Statement on Access: Collection is open for research.
Acquisition Note: The initial date the collection was acquired was 2006; the bulk of the collection was received in 2006 and then in 2009 from Andrew Parodi. In December 2016, additional materials, including posters and a 1979 calendar, were donated and incorporated as part of the collection; the donor was Herbert L Everett. The negatives from the 1972 La Raza event were donated by the photographer Milt Johnson in 2021. A variety of materials were donated in 2023 by Nancy Bray who was active in the 1970s with Eugene Friends of the Farmworkers.
Related Materials: This collection is a component of the Oregon Multicultural Archives (OMA). In July 2012, the OMA curator conducted an oral history interview with Andrew Parodi and Karen Olivo regarding their experiences living at the Colegio. Chicano scholar Carlos Maldonado has written Colegio Cesar Chavez, 1973-1983: A Chicano Struggle for Educational Self-Determination. The book Sonny Montes and Mexican American Activism in Oregon, by Glenn Anthony May, was published by the Oregon State University Press in 2011. The Queen of Angels Monastery in Mount Angel, Oregon also has a record pertaining to the Colegio and the subsequent transfer of ownership of the land and buildings back to the monastery.
Preferred Citation: Colegio César Chávez Collection (MSS Colegio), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.
Finding Aid Revision History: The 2011 finding aid was updated in 2016 and 2023 to incorporate additions to the collection.
Colegio Cesar Chavez (Mount Angel, Or.)
Parodi, Andrew
Alurista
Colegio Cesar Chavez (Mount Angel, Or.)
Hispanic Americans--Education (Higher)--Oregon.
Mexican Americans--Oregon.
Mount Angel (Or.)
Mount Angel Academy and College
Oregon Multicultural Archives
Photographic prints.