SAL SI PUEDES

SAL SI PUEDES

By Dr. Joel Ruíz Herrera

There is so much history in the East San José neighborhood known as Sal Si Puedes, which translates to “get out if you can”. According to Stephen J. Pitti in his book, The Devil in Silicon Valley, “Puerto Rican residents probably gave the area its name as a mock tribute to its economic underdevelopment and the lack of attention given it by city and county officials’’ (p. 91). However, as Pitti recounts, the name also referred to the challenge of moving vehicles that had sunk deeply into the mud of the unpaved east side streets in the area surrounding what we now know as San Antonio Street. In the 1950s, Sal Si Puedes was known as the largest neighborhood on the eastside, with San Antonio Street running through the middle of it.

“There is so much history in the East San José neighborhood known as Sal Si Puedes, which translates to “get out if you can”

Sal Si Puedes is the home to Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, “the region’s first Catholic mission in the twentieth century devoted to the ethnic Mexican population” (Pitti, p. 132), which was founded in 1952 by Father Donald McDonnell (Pitti, p. 150).

Sal Si Puedes is also home to la casa de César Chávez where el estimado Don César lived when he began his transformational and internationally recognized social justice journey. The house still stands and is located on Scharff Avenue, between Alum Rock Avenue and San Antonio Street not too far from Guadalupe Church.

Finally, Sal Si Puedes was home to the Community Service Organization (CSO), although the building is no longer there.

“Sal Si Puedes is also home to la casa de César Chávez where el estimado Don César lived when he began his transformational and internationally recognized social justice journey.”

Each of these historically significant locations can be mapped within 0.4 miles of each other: The home of César Chavez (53 Scharff Avenue) is 0.4 miles away from the CSO (222 S. Jackson Avenue) and 0.4 miles away from the Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish (2020 E. San Antonio Street). The CSO can also be mapped 0.4 miles away from Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish. So, think of all three locations as a little triangle of equal distance from each other. There is a lot of history in this little area of San José!

“There is a lot of history in this little area of San José!”