Life Story: Dolores Huerta (1930– )

Dolores Fernández was born in 1930 in New Mexico. When Dolores was age five, her parents divorced. She moved with her mother and brothers to the agricultural community of Stockton in California.

Living in Stockton allowed young Dolores to witness the farm industry firsthand. During the Great Depression and World War II, agriculture in California changed dramatically. Large food corporations took over small farms to create massive, industrialized farms. Laborers were hired seasonally and paid very low wages. Most farm workers were people of color and moved often in search of work. On top of this, working conditions were incredibly demanding. By the 1960s, the average life expectancy of a farmworker in California was only 49 years old. 

Dolores looked up to her mother, Alicia, who worked tirelessly to care for her family. Alicia worked as a waitress during the day and as a factory worker at night. Eventually, she saved enough money to buy her own hotel. Many of the residents in the hotel were farmworkers. Alicia allowed lots of them to stay for free because they had very little money.

Alicia wanted her children to benefit from a middle-class life but also value hard work. Dolores was a Girl Scout, took dance and music classes, and participated in youth group. She also shared chores with her brothers and helped her mother at the hotel. 

Dolores attended Stockton High School, where she encountered a lot of racial discrimination. She was an excellent student, but teachers often questioned her achievements. They could not believe that a young Latina being raised by a single mother could be so smart.

After graduating in 1948, Dolores married her boyfriend, Ralph Head. Dolores and Ralph had two daughters. After three years, they divorced. Dolores earned a teaching degree and taught English to farmworkers’ children. She was saddened by the level of poverty she witnessed. After just one year of teaching, Dolores decided she needed to do more. 

In 1955, Dolores helped found a local Stockton chapter of the Community Service Organization (CSO). CSO encouraged Spanish-speakers to participate in civic life. Dolores led voter registration drives, supported bilingual candidates, and lobbied for equal rights for Stockton’s Latinx community.

While working with CSO, Dolores married fellow organizer Ventura Huerta. They had five children together. Dolores and Ventura’s marriage was difficult because they had opposing ideas on Dolores’s role. Ventura wanted family to be Dolores’s first priority. Dolores loved her children, but felt compelled to dedicate her time to farmworkers. She traveled often, worked constantly, and was unapologetic about it. She and Ventura divorced in 1964. 

Dolores’s work drew the attention of the CSO’s national director, César Chávez. César and Dolores shared a concern for farmworkers. In 1962, they stepped down from their roles at CSO to cofound a union in central California. It was called the National Farmworkers Association (NFWA). César served as president and Dolores as vice president. The two worked tirelessly for their new organization, but César often received more public attention. 

Forming a union for migrant workers was a lot of work. Dolores often traveled across the region recruiting members. She met workers in their homes and out in the fields. She wrote letters to César describing the rewards and challenges of starting a new union from scratch.

Dolores also wrote about the difficulty of doing this work as a single mother. Her car often broke down, and she had little to no income. Her children came with her on road trips. Dolores recognized the toll this took on her children, but she could not walk away. If she and her children needed to make sacrifices for the greater good, so be it.

Recruiting members to the NFWA was only the first step. A union also needed to protect its members. Dolores fought for better insurance policies for workers, access to medical care, and improved childcare options. 

In 1965, the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC), another major agricultural union, contacted the NWFA for help. They wanted the group to co-lead a strike of Filipino and Chicano workers in the grape industry in Delano, California. NWFA was still new and had very little funding, but Dolores and César agreed to join. Over 3,000 grape workers across California went on strike. Many strikers experienced violent backlash. But César and Dolores promoted a nonviolent response. They encouraged their members not to fight back, to organize peaceful marches, and to demonstrate their resilience in the face of oppression.

During the strike, the AWOC and NWFA merged into a new unified union. It was called the United Farmworkers of America (UFW). As Vice President, Dolores was UFW’s only elected female leader. 

The Delano Grape strike went on for five years. At one point, Dolores relocated to New York City to organize a nationwide boycott. Over 17 million Americans refused to buy grapes. Soon after, employers began to sign contracts with the unions. Dolores led much of this work. 

Dolores appeared soft-spoken and calm. However, behind her quiet demeanor was a powerful negotiator. This intensity was one way she fought against the racist and sexist resistance she commonly faced. Growers resented losing power to a union with Chicano origins, particularly one led by a woman. 

Dolores was one of the few female leaders in the movement. As a result, she played a critical role in advocating for women laborers. She spoke up for gender equality and reminded the mostly male leadership that women workers faced unique problems. She and César often fought over these issues. For Dolores, child care, protection from sexual harassment, and gender equality policies were critical to the survival of the entire industry. 

Through this advocacy, Dolores connected with the growing feminist movement. She met Gloria Steinem and became interested in the links between gender equality and fair labor practices. She spoke before the National Organization of Women (NOW) and helped found the Coalition of Labor Union Women. 

During her work with UFW, Dolores started a long-term relationship with César’s brother, Richard Chavez. Dolores and Richard had four children and remained together until his death in 2011. 

Dolores’s activism extended beyond farmworkers. She was an advocate for the poor, women, families, the environment, LGBTQ citizens, and immigrants. In her lifetime, Dolores was arrested 22 times in nonviolent protests. In 1988, while participating in a protest against harmful pesticides, she was beaten by the police. Six of her ribs were broken. She sued the police department and won. 

Dolores is still an activist today. In 2012, President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She is the founder and president of the Dolores Huerta Foundation. Through it, she continues to fight for social justice and equal rights, particularly within agricultural labor communities.

• boycott: To refuse to buy or handle goods from an organization or business as a punishment or protest.
• Chicano: An American of Mexican origin or descent.
• farmworker: A person who works for pay on a farm.
• Filipino: Relating to the Philippines, or a native of the Philippines. 
• life expectancy: The average number of years a person is expected to live. 
• lobby: To work to influence or persuade a politician or other person in power. 
• migrant worker: A person who travels to different places seeking temporary or seasonal work.
• seasonally: Taking place at a particular season in the year.