Dolores Huerta, a pioneering union organizer and civil rights icon who co-founded the United Farm Workers union with Cesar Chavez in the 1960s, has died at age 96, her family announced in a statement Wednesday.
“We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of our beloved mother, Dolores Huerta, today,” the statement said.
Dolores Clara Fernandez was born on April 10, 1930, in Dawson, New Mexico. After his parents divorced, Huerta and his siblings were raised by their mother, Alicia, a businesswoman and active member of their farming community.
Huerta dedicated much of his life to improving working conditions for farmworkers and advocating for the rights of marginalized communities. Yet his contributions to the farmworker movement have long been overshadowed by those of Cesar Chavez.
Earlier this year, Huerta revealed to the New York Times that in 1966 – at the height of the UFW boycott – Chavez allegedly drove her to a remote grape field in Delano, California, and raped her.
Huerta told the Times that she did not report the attack — or a previous incident in 1960 where she said Chavez pressured her to have sex with him during a work trip — because of the police’s attitude toward their movement and because she feared that no one in their union would believe her.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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