Civil rights leader and co-founder of the United Farm Workers has died.
Dolores Huerta wa 96 years old.
Erik Olvera, a family spokesperson, said she died from cancer, The New York Times reported.
The newspaper called her “a kind of Mexican American folk hero, depicted in murals and ballads.”
After founding the United Farm Workers alongside Cesar Chavez, she served as the vice president for almost four decades until Chavez’ death in 1993.
The Times said that while Chavez was the charismatic leader, she organized walkouts and boycotts and hammered out contracts with agricultural businesses.
She inspired the phrase “Sí, se puede!” as a rallying cry as she pushed for improved working conditions in fruit and vegetable fields, The Associated Press reported. It means “Yes, it can be done” or that people can change.
But while Chavez was the movement’s main face, what happened behind the scenes was a different story, some of which recently came to light.
Huerta claimed he raped her in the 1960s, speaking with the Times in 2026 about the alleged incident.
“I saw him, again, as my boss, as my hero, as, you know, somebody that would do the impossible,” Huerta she said earlier this year. “I never talked about it to anybody, and the reason I didn’t is because I just didn’t want to hurt the movement.”
She also said she didn’t speak out because, “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. I’ll say it that way.”
She had two children as a result of the alleged rape.
Huerta’s life partner was Richard Chavez, the brother of César Chavez. She and Richard had four children together, the AP reported. she had seven other children from two previous marriages.
The Times said there were allegations against Chavez that he groomed and molested girls as young as 12.
Huerta continued fighting for the rights of strangers even into her 90s, marching in protests and speaking about race, poverty, LGBTQ+ and women’s rights as part of the Dolores Huerta Foundation, the AP reported.
Huerta was born Dolores Clara Fernandez in Dawson, New Mexico, to a father who was a miner and union activist, who eventually served in the state legislature. Her mother took her and her brothers to California when the couple divorced, when Huerta was only 3 years old.
She was inspired to fight for workers’ rights after working as an elementary school teacher in the San Joaquin Valley, where many students lived in poor conditions.
“I couldn’t stand seeing kids come to class hungry and needing shoes,” she said in a 2017 PBS Independent Lens documentary, according to the AP. “I thought I could do more by organizing farmworkers than by trying to teach their hungry children.”
She eventually met César Chavez while working with a civil rights group in Stockton and started the National Farm Workers Association, which eventually became the United Farm Workers of America.
She was jailed 22 times for fighting for people’s rights, even being injured during a protest in 1988 when she was hit by a police officer’s baton as she was caught in a crowd. She had three broken ribs and a pulverized spleen. Huerta and the city of San Francisco reached a settlement.
She eventually turned her focus to women’s rights.
Huerta was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2012.