Dolores Huerta, United Farm Workers co-founder, dies at 96
Her family announced the death of the labor and civil rights leader whose organizing helped farmworkers win better wages and working conditions.
Dolores Huerta, who co-founded the United Farm Workers and became a leading voice for farmworkers and civil rights in the United States, has died at 96, NBC News reported on October 28, citing a statement from her family. Her organizing helped agricultural workers press for better wages and working conditions.
ABC News also reported the family’s announcement of her death. The family said it would later share plans to recognize and celebrate her life and legacy, according to ABC.
How Dolores Huerta shaped the farmworker movement
Huerta co-founded the United Farm Workers with César Chávez. NBC News described it as the first nationally recognized union for farmworkers. Its campaigns brought attention to workers who were among the country’s poorest and most marginalized, including through grape and lettuce boycotts that drew millions of Americans from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s.
Although Chávez was the movement’s most visible figure, Huerta’s organizing was essential to its efforts to secure collective bargaining rights, NBC News reported. She coined ‘Sí se puede,’ meaning ‘Yes we can,’ which became a rallying cry for the farmworker movement.
Born in New Mexico in 1930, Huerta grew up in Stockton, California. She continued to take part in labor campaigns decades after the union’s early victories: NBC News reported that she was arrested in 2019 while joining a protest seeking better pay for home health care workers.
A legacy beyond the United Farm Workers
Huerta became the first Latina inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1993. President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, in 2012, according to NBC News. She also campaigned for Democratic candidates and spoke about political participation as a way for people to change their circumstances.
The Dolores Huerta Foundation describes its work as grassroots organizing, civic engagement and education for marginalized communities. That work reflects the broader causes Huerta pursued alongside farmworker rights, including political, racial and gender equality.
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Sources and context
- Dolores Huerta, farmworker and civil rights activist, dies at 96NBC News
- Labor rights leader Dolores Huerta dies at 96ABC News
- Social Justice Advocates | Dolores Huerta FoundationDolores Huerta Foundation
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.