Dolores Huerta, United Farm Workers co-founder and civil rights leader, dies at 96

Dolores Huerta, the labor organizer and civil rights activist who co-founded the United Farm Workers with César Chavez, died Wednesday at her home in California, her family said. She was 96.

Born in New Mexico in 1930 and raised in Stockton, California, Huerta began organizing after working as a teacher in the agricultural San Joaquin Valley. She helped build the UFW into a nationally recognized union, campaigning through strikes, boycotts and protests for better pay, safer conditions and stronger protections for agricultural workers.

Huerta was credited with coining “Sí, se puede,” Spanish for “Yes, it can be done,” which became a UFW rallying cry and was later adapted by Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012. She was also the first Latina inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame, in 1993.

Her activism continued into her 90s and extended beyond labor rights to voting and immigrant rights, racial and gender equality, environmental justice and LGBTQ rights. Through the Bakersfield-based Dolores Huerta Foundation, she supported organizing in underserved communities.

Earlier in 2026, Huerta publicly alleged that Chavez had sexually abused her during the 1960s. She said she had remained silent for decades because she feared disclosure would damage the farmworker movement and its gains.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered flags flown at half-staff in Huerta’s honor. Her family asked for privacy and said plans to recognize and celebrate her life would follow.