Dolores Huerta, Co-Founder of the United Farm Workers, Dies at 96
Labor leader and civil rights icon Dolores Huerta, who co-founded the United Farm Workers and coined 'Sí, se puede,' has died at 96.
Key Facts
- —Huerta co-founded the National Farmworkers Association with Cesar Chavez in 1962, which became the United Farm Workers.
- —She coined the rallying cry 'Sí, se puede' in 1972.
- —President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012.
- —In March 2026, Huerta said publicly that Chavez had sexually abused her, part of a New York Times investigation into broader abuse allegations against Chavez.
- —She later founded and led the Dolores Huerta Foundation, a community organizing group based in Bakersfield, California.
Dolores Huerta, who helped build the nation's first lasting union for farmworkers and spent seven decades organizing for labor and civil rights, has died at 96. Her family announced her death in a statement posted to her official Instagram account, saying they were "deeply saddened" to share the news and asking for privacy.
Born in Dawson, New Mexico, in 1930 and raised largely in Stockton, California, Huerta came to organizing through community work before she turned to the fields. In 1962 she and Cesar Chavez stepped away from the Community Service Organization to found the National Farmworkers Association, the union that would become the United Farm Workers. Huerta negotiated contracts, led boycotts and lobbied legislators for decades, work that helped secure collective-bargaining rights for California farmworkers in 1975. In 1972 she coined the rallying cry "Sí, se puede" — "Yes, we can" — which spread far beyond the fields she organized.
Huerta's public legacy became entangled this year with a reckoning over Chavez, who died in 1993. The allegations prompted extensive public discussion among historians and former colleagues of both figures throughout the year.
Beyond the union, Huerta was a prominent voice on feminism, immigration and electoral organizing, pushing Latino and female candidates toward public office in the 1990s and 2000s and continuing to lobby on workers' issues into her later years. President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012, recognizing a career that had already produced the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award and multiple honorary degrees. She later led the Dolores Huerta Foundation, a community organizing group based in Bakersfield, which she founded using prize money from the 2002 Puffin/Nation Prize for Creative Citizenship.
She is survived by her children.
References
- 1.NPR — confirmed death at 96 and family statement announcing her passing
- 2.ABC News — confirmed family statement text and that Huerta co-founded the United Farm Workers
- 3.NBC News (nbclosangeles.com, nbcbayarea.com, nbcnews.com) — biographical details including birthplace, founding of CSO chapter, and children/foundation details
- 4.CNN — reported on Huerta's relationship with Chavez and the 2026 abuse allegations
- 5.Wikipedia 'Cesar Chavez sexual abuse allegations' — confirmed timing (March 2026) and nature of allegations against Chavez
- 6.Yahoo/NY Post wire — reported Huerta's account that Chavez sexually abused her in 1960 and 1966
- 7.Women & the American Story (New-York Historical Society) — confirmed 2012 Presidential Medal of Freedom and 1962 founding of NFWA
- 8.ABC News (GMA) — confirmed she coined 'Sí, se puede' and founded the Dolores Huerta Foundation with Puffin/Nation Prize money
- 9.Facing History / LULAC biography pages — corroborated honors including Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award and honorary doctorates
No required issues were raised by the fact-checker. All key factual claims are independently supported by the REFERENCES list and the CLAIM VERIFICATION section: death at 96 and family statement (R1, R2, verification), 1962 co-founding of NFWA/UFW (R2, R7, verification), 'Si, se puede' coined 1972 (R8, verification), 2012 Presidential Medal of Freedom (R7, verification), 1975 collective-bargaining rights (verification via Britannica), birthplace Dawson NM 1930 (R3, verification), Dolores Huerta Foundation in Bakersfield founded with 2002 Puffin/Nation prize money (R8, verification), and the 2026 Chavez abuse allegations/reckoning (R4, R5, R6, verification). The article handles the sensitive Chavez abuse material carefully and neutrally, attributing it as allegations and describing it as a 'reckoning' with public discussion among historians, without sensationalizing. The headline is accurate, non-sensational, and leads with the death rather than the abuse controversy. Neutrality and fair representation are sound.
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