Dear Friends:

I am happy to say Cesar Chavez's newest campus has opened in the historic Blanche K. Bruce School. Many generations of DC residents have been educated there over the years.

This fourth Chavez PCS campus restores a tradition of education excellence at the Bruce school. Already the school boasts 229 6th, 7th and 8th grade students.

I have been involved with this building since I took office. It had largely vacant since the 1970s. The new construction itself has taken far longer than was anticipated, although major issues of asbestos and lead paint had to be overcome.

It is wonderful to have this historic preservation bring an end to what was a nuisance. But better still, it was not only restored, but it is restored to the original purpose for which it was built in 1898!

Vera impressively, it combines the legacy of two great historic figures.

The school building was named for Blanche Kelso Bruce. Bruce was the first African American to serve a full term in the U.S. Senate, serve as Register of the Treasury and have his name appear on U.S. paper currency. He was also the D.C. Recorder of Deeds and a D.C. Public Schools trustee. His home in our city still stands at 909 M Street NW.

The school itself is named for Cesar Chavez. Chavez is the father of the farm workers movement. He was a Mexican-American<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_American> farm worker who became a labor leader<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_leader> and civil-rights<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_rights> activist<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Activism> when he fought for better working conditions for California farm workers. He co-founded the National Farm Workers Association<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Farm_Workers_Association>, which is now the United Farm Workers<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Farm_Workers> (UFW).

This restoration contributes to quality of education of the city's youth, and to the ongoing revitalization of this east side area of Ward 1!

Bests,
Councilmember Jim Graham