Dolores Huerta, Huelga, Delano CA Grape Strikes, September 24, 1965

Dolores Huerta (born 1930), along with César Chávez (1927-1993), brought the working conditions of field laborers to the public’s attention. Through the twentieth century farm workers were some of the worst paid workers in the nation. They received below-poverty-level wages for long days of backbreaking work, and lived precariously moving from place to place as they followed seasonal harvests. Huerta and Chávez galvanized national solidarity on the workers’ behalf. As vice-president of the United Farm Workers, as well as an energetic picket captain, a persuasive lobbyist, and an unyielding contract negotiator, Huerta not only improved the lives of farm workers but advanced new models of womanhood.

Harvey Richards Media Archive, @Paul Richards