Labor leader Dolores Huerta dies at 96
Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers and longtime civil-rights activist, died at home at age 96.
Dolores Huerta, a co-founder of the United Farm Workers union and a prominent advocate for labor, civil-rights and feminist causes, died at her home on Wednesday at the age of 96, her family said through her foundation. Huerta remained active into her 90s, traveling nationwide to speak on issues such as race, poverty, LGBTQ+ rights and women's rights.
Born in 1930 in Dawson, New Mexico, Huerta entered organizing after working as an elementary-school teacher in California’s San Joaquin Valley, saying she could not stand seeing hungry, shoeless children in her classroom. In 1962 she and César Chávez launched the National Farm Workers Association, later the United Farm Workers, where she helped negotiate the first health and benefit plans for farmworkers and led the five-year Delano grape strike.
She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012, and former President Barack Obama praised her tenacity when presenting the honor. In a 2026 interview with Latino USA, Huerta explained her decision to disclose a decades-old sexual abuse allegation against Chávez, stating, "It was my personal pain, it was my personal problem and, you know, I think it was worth it because it was my cross to bear."
Huerta’s activism also included registering Mexican-American voters for Robert Kennedy’s 1968 campaign, enduring 22 arrests, and sustaining serious injuries during a 1988 protest against a presidential candidate. Later she championed women’s rights, encouraged Latinas to run for office, and supported Democratic presidents Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
Her legacy includes numerous honors, such as induction into the National Women’s Hall of Fame, nine honorary doctorates, and schools and streets named after her in several states. In the 2025 documentary "Seeds of Change: The Life and Legacy of Dolores Huerta," she said, "I hope that my legacy will be one of an organizer that organized to fight injustice. We want to give our children an inheritance of justice, not jewels or property or money."