Joe Serna
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Joe Serna Jr. (September 3, 1939 – November 7, 1999) was an American educator and
civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...
activist who served as the 52nd mayor of Sacramento, California from 1992 until his death in 1999.


Early life

Joe Serna Jr. was born in Stockton, the son of migrant farm workers. He was raised in labor camps near Lodi and worked with his family in the fields at a young age. He graduated from what was then known as Sacramento State College in 1966.


Activism

He would grow up to become a supporter of the
United Farm Workers The United Farm Workers of America, or more commonly just United Farm Workers (UFW), is a labor union for farmworkers in the United States. It originated from the merger of two workers' rights organizations, the Agricultural Workers Organizing ...
and worked with
César Chávez Cesar Chavez (born Cesario Estrada Chavez ; ; March 31, 1927 – April 23, 1993) was an American labor leader and civil rights activist. Along with Dolores Huerta, he co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), which later merg ...
. Serna organized clothing and food drives for striking farm workers in the 1960s and was one of the UFW's main Sacramento leaders for close to 30 years. Serna was also a sometime member of the
Royal Chicano Air Force The Royal Chicano Air Force (RCAF) is a Sacramento, California-based art collective, founded in 1970 by Ricardo Favela, José Montoya and Esteban Villa. It was one of the "most important collective artist groups" in the Chicano art movement in C ...
.


Public career

Serna became the first Latino mayor of
Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...
. Before becoming mayor, Serna had served 11 years on the
Sacramento City Council The Sacramento City Council is the governing body of the city of Sacramento, California. The council holds regular meetings at Sacramento City Hall on Tuesdays at 6:00 pm, with exceptions for holidays and other special cases. Sacramento's city co ...
. He also served in the
Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John F ...
and was a professor in the Government Department at
California State University Sacramento California State University, Sacramento (CSUS, Sacramento State, or informally Sac State) is a public university in Sacramento, California. Founded in 1947 as Sacramento State College, it is the eleventh oldest school in the 23-campus California ...
. As mayor, Serna pushed through initiatives to honor César Chávez when the legendary civil rights leader died in 1993. Serna organized a caravan from Sacramento to march in Chávez's funeral and renamed a park in front of City Hall to Cesar E. Chavez Plaza. Furthermore, Sacramento became the first city in the United States to honor César Chávez with a holiday.


Legacy

Serna died of kidney cancer on November 7, 1999, aged 60, while in office in Sacramento, California;
Jimmie R. Yee Jimmie R. Yee (born 1934) is an American politician who formerly served on the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors. Yee was briefly mayor of Sacramento, California after the death of Mayor Joe Serna in 1999. Yee is a Democrat. Early life and ...
presided over the remainder of his term. Serna is buried at
East Lawn Cemetery East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...
, and his funeral was attended by many of his fellow UFW activists. Serna was honored in 2001 with a brand-new, 25-story skyscraper named after him. The Joe Serna, Jr. EPA Building (near City Hall in downtown Sacramento) has been named the most energy-efficient high rise in the United States by
Energy Star Energy Star (trademarked ''ENERGY STAR'') is a program run by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) that promotes energy efficiency. The program provides information on the energy consumption of pr ...
. Many California universities and organizations have also established scholarships and grants in Joe Serna's name. Joe Serna, Jr. Charter School, the only Spanish/English dual-immersion school in Lodi, carries out Serna's legacy of giving all people the opportunity to have their voices heard.
Sacramento City Unified School District Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD) is a public school system in Sacramento, California. With 47,900 students in 81 schools, it is the eleventh largest school district in California. Founding Harvey Willson “H.W.” Harkness w ...
honored Serna by naming their new headquarters, residing on 47th Avenue, after him. Serna is also, to date, the most recent mayor of Sacramento to eulogize a former California governor, delivering the final remarks at the funeral mass of
Pat Brown Edmund Gerald "Pat" Brown (April 21, 1905 – February 16, 1996) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 32nd governor of California from 1959 to 1967. His first elected office was as district attorney for San Francisco, and he w ...
in 1996 at the Blessed Sacrament Cathedral, which was presided over by then-governor
Pete Wilson Peter Barton Wilson (born August 23, 1933) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 36th governor of California from 1991 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, he also served as a United States senator from California betw ...
, whose term also ended in 1999, and celebrated by then-Bishop
William Weigand William Keith Weigand (born May 23, 1937) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Sacramento in California from 1993 to 2008. Weigand previously served as the bishop of the Diocese of Salt Lak ...
. Serna's eulogy was in Spanish and English.


References


External links


''Guide to the Joe Serna, Jr. papers, 1939-1999 (1992-1999)''''Sacramento Mayor Joe Serna Jr. Dies First Latino in the job, loyal ally of Cesar Chavez''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Serna, Joe Jr. 1939 births 1999 deaths 20th-century American politicians Hispanic and Latino American mayors in California Politicians from Stockton, California Sacramento City Council members Mayors of Sacramento, California California Democrats California State University, Sacramento alumni Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from kidney cancer