HerStory: Dolores Huerta
Dolores Clara Fernandez Huerta is one of the most influential labor activists of the 20th century and a leader of the Chicano civil rights movement. Born on April 10, 1930 in Dawson, New Mexico. Her mother's community activism and compassionate treatment of workers greatly influenced Dolores. Discrimination also helped shape Huerta. A schoolteacher, prejudiced against Hispanics, accused Huerta of cheating because her papers were too well-written. This discrimination fueled a fire in her, and she excelled in school.
Huerta briefly taught school in the 1950s, but seeing so many hungry farm children coming to school, she thought she could do more to help them by organizing farmers and farmworkers. In 1955 Huerta began her career as an activist. Huerta met activist César Chávez, with whom she shared an interest in organizing farmworkers. In 1962, Huerta and Chávez founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA). Despite ethnic and gender bias, Huerta was the driving force behind the nationwide table grape boycotts. During the 1990s and 2000s, she worked to elect more Latinos and women to political office and has championed women’s issues.
She has received many honors like the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award (1998) and The Presidential Medal of Freedom (2012). Huerta continues to do advocacy work in immigration rights.
Books:
Side by Side/Lado a Lado:
The Story of Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez/La Historia de Dolores Huerta y Cesar Chavez
By: Monica Brown
As we continue to celebrate Women’s History Month and our 1 yr anniversary as an org, we want to highlight children’s books that celebrate amazing women who have made impactful changes for children of color throughout history.
