By Cesar Gonzalez

Daily Titan Staff Writer

Dr. Horst Tonn, professor of American studies at the University of Tübingen, Germany, spoke at the Fullerton Public Library on Oct. 13. Photo by Todd Barnes/Daily Titan Photo Editor

The Fullerton Public Library and the Town and Gown lecture series hosted a lecture on Oct. 13 called “History, Culture, Memory, Cesar Chavez and Chicano Activism.”

The presenter/speaker of this lecture was Dr. Horst Tonn, professor of American studies at the University of Tübingen, Germany. He is the director of the American Studies Department and has book publications on Chicano literature and documentary writing.

The event started off with a preview of the film “Viva La Causa,” a film about Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta on how a coalition of people stood together for justice.

The film showed Filipino grape growers planning to strike because they were not provided with adequate housing or clean drinking water but were getting paid well enough to not unionize. They were living in conditions where pesticides were being sprayed, which would make workers sick and sometimes die. They wanted change, so the grape growers and the other pickers started to fight for human rights.

During the 1960s, workers were only getting paid about $1 an hour with no health benefits. By the 1940s, a majority of the farm workers were Mexican.

After watching part of the film, Tonn discussed how he decided to work with the United Farm Workers Movement in 1973. Tonn added that he didn’t really agree with some parts of the movie because of certain reenactments and the way some things were portrayed.

“United Farm Workers marked a significant moment in Hispanic activism during that time,” said Tonn. The phrase “yes we can” was used as a motto by the United Farm Workers of America, which in Spanish translates to “si se puede,” Tonn added.

He also said that the concept of civil disobedience and nonviolent restraint became important for the United Farm Workers of America.

“Civil disobedience continued in the 1960s and it was the central context of the United Farm Workers association,” Tonn said.

This event was described by the Fullerton Public Library director, Maureen Gebelein, as “a way to try to incorporate the lecture that has to do with Hispanic Heritage Month.”

Gebelein said the goal of this lecture was to hook National Hispanic Heritage Month with Fullerton Reads. Fullerton Reads is a partnership between the Fullerton Public Library and local businesses and other organizations to provide opportunities for people of all ages, cultures and ethnic backgrounds to come together to explore issues that are important.

Gebelein said they started celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month with author Gustavo Arellano, who came to the library and talked about his books and column “Ask A Mexican!”

Reyes Fidalgo, a professor of Spanish linguistics, said she enjoyed the lecture. “It was interesting how Dr. Tonn connected Henry David Thoreau and the American idealism to the struggle of the farm workers; it goes back to Central American individualism,” Fidalgo said.

In September 1968, Congress authorized President Lyndon B. Johnson to create National Hispanic Heritage Month, which lasts from Sept. 15 – Oct. 15.

For more information about the Town and Gown Lectures at the Fullerton Public Library, you can visit the library’s Web site at FullertonLibrary.org.