Dolores Huerta Resources

“¡Si se puede! Yes, we can!”

Books

Videos

Biography

The following information was compiled by the Sixth Grade Class of 2021 from the Advent School as part of a Research Project. I organized it into this document. The information has links so you can check it or expand it.

Personal Life

Born on April 10, 1930 in Dawson, New Mexico
When Dolores was three, her parents divorced.
Dolores was a member of the girl scouts until she was 18 years old.
https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/dolores-huerta
Huerta married Ralph Head in college after her graduation in 1948. During their marriage, they had two daughters, Celeste and Lori. After divorcing Head, she married Ventura Huerta with whom she bore five children. Their son Emilio Jesus Huerta entered politics and ran for Congress. Her second marriage ended in divorce as well, in part because of the significant amount of time that she spent away from the family while campaigning and organizing.Later, Huerta had a romantic relationship with Richard Chavez, the brother of César Chávez.Huerta and Chávez never married, but the couple had four children during their relationship. Richard Chávez died on July 27, 2011 (Wikipedia)
Dolores, her two brothers and her mom all moved to California. Dolores Huerta – Children, Quotes & Cesar Chavez

A prejudiced school-teacher once accused her of cheating for the reason that her papers were “too well written”https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/dolores-huerta#:~:text=Born%20on%20April%2010%2C%201930,Stockton%2C%20California%20with%20her%20children.
She was known for her kindness. She offered rooms at affordable rates in her 70 room hotel, which she acquired after years of hard work.

Social Justice Activism

In 1955, Huerta co-founded the stockton chapter of the CSO-(community service organization)
César and Dolores resigned from the CSO, and launched the National Farm Workers Association in the Spring of 1962.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolores_Huerta#:~:text=Huerta%20helped%20organize%20the%20Delano,rights%2C%20including%20the%20Eugene%20V. And Dolores Huerta Foundation

In 1965, Huerta directed the UFW’s national boycott during the Delano grape strike, taking the plight of the farm workers to the consumers. She led the organization of boycotts advocating for consumer rights. The boycott resulted in the entire California table grape industry signing a three-year collective bargaining agreement with the United Farm Workers in 1970. (Wikipedia) In addition to organizing, Huerta has been active in lobbying for laws to improve the lives of farm workers. The laws that she supported included the following:

1960 bill to permit Spanish-speaking people to take the California driver’s examination in Spanish

1962 legislation repealing the Bracero Program

1963 legislation to extend the federal program, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), to California farmworkersThe 1975 California Agricultural Labor Relations Act

She has her own foundation called the Agricultural Workers Association 89-year-old civil rights leader Dolores Huerta arrested at California labor protest

Quotes

“Si se puede!, Yes we can!”

“Being a now (ahem) experienced lobbyist, I am able to speak on a man-to-man basis with other lobbyists.”

“If you haven’t forgiven yourself something, how can you forgive others?”

“Every moment is an organizing opportunity, every person a potential activist, every minute a chance to change the world.”

“I quit because I can’t stand seeing kids come to class hungry and needing shoes. I thought I could do more by organizing farm workers than by trying to teach their hungry children.”

“Every single day we sit down to eat, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and at our table we have food that was planted, picked, or harvested by a farm worker. Why is it that the people who do the most sacred work in our nation are the most oppressed, the most exploited?”“That’s the history of the world. His story is told, hers isn’t.” (Credit: inspiringquotes.us)

Recognition

There are four elementary schools in California, one in Fort Worth, Texas, and a high school in Pueblo, Colorado named after Dolores Huerta.

She was inducted into the California Hall of Fame in March of 2013. She has received numerous awards: among them The Eleanor Roosevelt Humans Rights Award from President Clinton in l998, Ms. Magazine’s One of the Three Most Important Women of l997, Ladies Home Journal’s 100 Most Important Woman of the 20th Century, The Puffin Foundation’s Award for Creative Citizenship: Labor Leader Award 1984, The Kern County Woman of The Year Award from the California State Legislature, The Ohtli Award from the Mexican Government, The Smithsonian Institution – James Smithson Award, and Nine Honorary Doctorates from Universities throughout the United States.

In 2012 President Obama bestowed Dolores with her most prestigious award, The Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States. Cr. doloreshuerta.com

You can find more information about her current endeavors in her foundation page.