Dolores Huerta, the pioneering labor organizer and civil rights activist who helped transform the lives of farmworkers in California and co-founded the organization that became the United Farm Workers, died Wednesday at her home in Bakersfield, California. She was 96.
Huerta’s family announced her death on Wednesday, Oct. 28. A family spokesman later said the cause was cancer.
Her death closes a remarkable chapter in American labor history. For more than seven decades, Huerta fought for better wages, safer working conditions, voting rights, women’s rights and greater political power for Latino communities.
She was among the most recognizable figures in the farmworker movement and remained active well into her 90s.
A Central Figure in California’s Farmworker Movement
Born Dolores Clara Fernández on April 10, 1930, in Dawson, New Mexico, Huerta moved to Stockton, California, with her mother and brothers after her parents divorced.
She later trained as a teacher and briefly worked in an elementary school.
Huerta often said that seeing children arrive at school hungry and poorly clothed helped push her away from the classroom and toward organizing.
During the 1950s, she joined the Community Service Organization, a Latino civil rights group in California, where she became involved in voter registration and community advocacy.
It was through that work that she met Cesar Chavez.
In 1960, Huerta helped organize the Agricultural Workers Association. Two years later, she and Chavez founded the National Farm Workers Association, which eventually became part of the United Farm Workers.
Their efforts helped build one of the most influential labor movements in modern American history.
The Grape Boycott and Rise of the United Farm Workers
Huerta played a major role in organizing agricultural workers across California’s San Joaquin and Coachella valleys.
Farmworkers at the time often earned extremely low wages, lacked basic workplace protections and had limited ability to bargain collectively.
The movement gained national attention through strikes and consumer boycotts, especially the Delano grape boycott.
Those campaigns pressured growers to improve pay and working conditions and helped turn farmworker rights into a national civil rights issue.
Huerta became known not only as an organizer but also as a skilled negotiator who helped secure labor contracts between growers and farmworkers.
The movement later helped lay the groundwork for the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975, which established collective bargaining rights for agricultural workers.
“Sí, Se Puede” Became a National Rallying Cry
Huerta also became closely associated with the phrase “Sí, se puede,” commonly translated as “Yes, we can” or “Yes, it can be done.”
The slogan began as part of the farmworker movement but eventually spread far beyond California’s agricultural fields.
It was later used by labor groups, immigration activists, civil rights organizations and political campaigns across the United States.
The phrase became one of the most enduring symbols of Huerta’s legacy.
Recognition at the Highest Levels
Huerta’s influence extended from labor camps in California’s Central Valley to state politics and Washington.
In 2012, President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, one of the highest civilian honors in the United States.
She continued organizing through the Bakersfield-based Dolores Huerta Foundation, which she founded in 2002.
The organization focused on grassroots civic engagement, education, voter participation and community leadership.
Even in her mid-90s, Huerta maintained an active public schedule and continued speaking at rallies and events across the country.
Late in Life, Huerta Accused Cesar Chavez of Sexual Abuse
Huerta’s public legacy took a deeply personal turn in March 2026 when she accused longtime movement partner Cesar Chavez of sexually abusing her decades earlier.
She said Chavez manipulated and pressured her into one sexual encounter and forced her into another while he held significant authority within the movement.
Huerta said she had remained silent for decades in part because she feared damaging the farmworker movement they had built together.
Her allegations emerged after a New York Times investigation reported accusations from other women and girls against Chavez.
Huerta said she chose to speak publicly after learning that other alleged victims had also come forward.
The Chavez family did not dispute Huerta’s account and publicly expressed support for survivors while also acknowledging Chavez’s historical contributions to the labor movement.
The disclosures forced a broader reconsideration of Chavez’s legacy and added a complicated final chapter to the history of the farmworker movement that he and Huerta helped build.
A Life Devoted to Organizing
Huerta’s influence ultimately reached far beyond organized labor.
She became a prominent voice for women’s rights, racial equality, immigrant communities and political participation.
Her career spanned some of the most significant social movements in modern American history, from the civil rights struggles of the 1950s and 1960s to contemporary debates over immigration, voting rights and workplace equality.
Her family said plans to recognize and celebrate her life and legacy would be announced later.
For generations of organizers, Huerta’s legacy remains tied to the idea that ordinary people can build political power through collective action — a philosophy captured in the slogan that became synonymous with her life: “Sí, se puede.”
