CELEBRATE WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH! 2002
Brought to you by the National Women's History Project and the WEEA Equity
Resource Center at EDC
Each week of Women's History Month we will highlight six women whose
achievements have paved the way to the 21st century. This week we will give
you a brief biography on Dolores Huerta.
Women Sustaining the American Spirit
Dolores Huerta was born in Dawson, New Mexico in 1930, about seven months
after the infamous stock market crash. For Dolores, it was the strength,
independence, and ambition of her mother that encouraged her to create her
own life and her own sense of purpose. In so doing, she came to embody the
American spirit that defies all stereotypes. Dolores Huerta is small in
body but gigantic in spirit and energy. Her passion for justice and equal
opportunity makes her one the century's most powerful and respected labor
movement leaders.
In the 1950's after graduating from Stockton College, Dolores began
teaching in a farm workers' community. As she witnessed the heartbreaking
hunger of her students, she knew she needed to take direct action to
eliminate the brutal conditions of poverty that defined their lives and
their aspirations.
To confront the problems, she used the American traditions of organizing,
lobbying, registering voters, and encouraging people to participate in
democratic reform. In 1962 along with Ceasar Chavez, she co-founded what
would be the United Farm Workers Union (UFW). Using tactics of
non-violence, she organized a successful boycott of California table
grapes. The boycott lasted five years but resulted in the entire California
table grape industry signing a three-year collective bargaining agreement
with the UFW.
She successfully lobbied for the Agricultural Labor Relations Act, the
first law of its kind in the United States which grants farm workers the
right to collectively organize and bargain for better wages and working
conditions, she continues with the goal of empowering farm workers with
information and skills to help them secure better living and working
conditions.
Her eleven grown children credit their mother with inculcating in them a
sense of civic duty and inspiring them to succeed in their varied
professions of doctor, lawyer, massage, therapist, teacher, public health
specialist, film maker, and poet. She is also a role model to her fifteen
grandchildren, encouraging each of them to act with purpose and to believe
in the possibility of what their work can accomplish.
For More Information about Dolores Huerta On-Line
"Dolores Huerta." Shatter The Glass Ceiling.
http://www.theglassceiling.com /biographies/bio.15.htm This is a short
biography of Dolores Huerta and her activities as co-founder of the United
Farm Workers Union.
Felner, Julie. "Women of the Year: Dolores Huerta: For a Lifetime of Labor
Championing the Rights of Farm Workers." Martin Sheen: January/February,
1998.
http://www.ufw.org/ms.htm This is an article chronicling the life of
Dolores
Huerta and the work that has made her the recipient of the Ms.Woman of the
Year award 1998.
Mathews, Cindy. "Dolores Huerta" Teacher Link
http://teacherlink.ed.usu.edu/TLresources/longterm/LessonPlans/famous/huerta.html
This is a lesson plan on Dolores Huerta for grades 5-6. It includes related
subject for further research and a table of contents for ease of browsing.
Salinas, Romelia. "Reading on Dolores Huerta." Chicana Studies web page.
http://latino.sscnet.ucla.edu/women/Huerta/readings.html This is a
bibliography compiled by UCLA for further research on Dolores Huerta
For more information on National Women's History Month, contact: National
Women's History Project, 7738 Bell Rd., Windsor, CA 95492-8518, Telephone:
707-838-6000, E-mail: nwhp@aol.com . Pictures, biographical and reference
information are available on the National Women's History Project
www.nwhp.org
For more information on links to other women's biographies visit the WEEA
Equity Resource Center at EDC, website:
http://www.edc.org/WomensEquity/women.htm Telephone: 617-618-2326, E-mail:
WEEActr@edc.org
WEEA Equity Resource Center Staff:
Sundra Flansburg, Director
Amie Jagne, Administrative Assistant
Cynthia Newson, Program Coodinator
Kimberly Newson, Office Assistant
Jolene Pinder, Marketing/Research Assistant
Julia Potter, Managing Editor
Hilandia Neuta-Rendon, Senior Technical Assistance/EdEquity Moderator
Susan. J. Smith, Director of Communications
Terri Boyer Tillbrook, Technical Assistance Director
WEEA EQUITY RESOURCE CENTER at EDC
55 Chapel Street, Newton, MA 02458-1060, USA
Tel: 1-800-225-3088 (TTY 800-354-6798) or 617-618-2326
Fax: 617-332-4318
Email: WEEActr@edc.org
Website: www.edc.org/WomensEquity
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The national Women's Educational Equity Act (WEEA) Program is
a federal mandate to promote educational equity for girls and women.
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