Dolores Huerta, who organized the grape boycott, has died at 96

Dolores Huerta, a co-founder of the United Farm Workers union, died on Wednesday at her home in Bakersfield, California. She was 96. Her family announced the death via her Instagram account, though a spokesperson later told The New York Times that cancer caused the death. The family stated they are mourning and will soon share plans to celebrate her life.

Huerta co-founded the organization with Cesar Chavez in 1962. The group was originally called the National Farm Workers Association. It grew out of the Community Service Organization, where Huerta met Chavez. Together, they organized farmworkers who faced low wages, no benefits, and a lack of water or bathrooms in the fields. Their most famous campaign was the national grape boycott that supported the Delano strike from 1965 to 1970.

The boycott pressured grocery chains to stop selling grapes until industry labor standards were set. California passed the Agricultural Labor Relations Act in 1975. This law granted farmworkers the right to unionize. The state credited Huerta with helping establish those rights. Historians note that while Chavez often received public credit, Huerta played an equal role in the movement's successes.

In March 2026, Huerta spoke publicly about sexual abuse by Chavez in the 1960s. She alleged that he pressured her into sex on one occasion and raped her on another. Both encounters resulted in pregnancies. She arranged for the children to be raised by other families. She said she remained silent for decades to protect the farmworker movement. Her disclosure followed a New York Times investigation into other allegations against Chavez.

Huerta was born on April 10, 1930, in Dawson, New Mexico. She became a teacher in Stockton, California, after earning a provisional credential from the University of the Pacific's Stockton College. She taught at an elementary school where many students were children of farmworkers. She said seeing their homes with dirt floors inspired her activism. In 1955, she met Fred Ross Sr., a community organizer who taught her how to make demands of public officials.

Huerta raised 14 children while organizing. She moved seven of them to Delano during the strike, leaving two behind in Stockton. She and Chavez's families relied on food banks and did not have steady income. She said women and children stood on the picket lines. She also noted that male activists were rarely asked how they balanced work with parental duties. A spokesperson said she had 24 grandchildren, 23 great-grandchildren, and seven great-great-grandchildren.

She is also credited with coining the phrase "Yes we can." Barack Obama adopted the slogan for his 2008 presidential campaign. In 2012, Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He noted that she helped lead the grape boycott without any prior negotiating experience. He added that she was gracious when he told her he had stolen her slogan.