What to Know
- Farmworker and labor movement icon Dolores Huerta has died at 96, her family says.
- Huerta co-founded the Stockton, California, chapter of the Community Service Organization (CSO) in 1955 and later the Agricultural Workers Association.
- She co-founded the National Farm Workers Association in 1962. The UFW formed from the movement three years later and Huerta served as vice president until 1999.
- President Barack Obama awarded Huerta the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012 for her work advocating for the underserved.
- In 1973, Huerta led a consumer boycott of grapes resulting in the ground-breaking California Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975.
Pioneering civil rights leader Dolores Huerta, a towering figure in the farmworker and labor movement in California, has died, according to her family. She was 96.
Erik Olvera, a family spokesperson, said she died of cancer Wednesday at her home in Bakersfield surrounded by family.
“We are deeply saddened to announce that our beloved mother, Dolores Huerta, has passed away today at the age of 96,” Huerta’s family said in a Facebook post announcing her death. “As you can imagine, this is an incredibly difficult time for us, and we ask for privacy as we grieve this incredible loss to our family. We know that many of you around the world share in our mourning, and we will be following up on plans to recognize and celebrate her incredible life and legacy.”…