Former elementary school teacher and formidable civil rights leader Dolores Huerta worked tirelessly to secure better working conditions for migrant farm workers in the 1960’s. Photo credit: Public Domain.
Like many people I have heard of formidable civil rights leader Dolores Huerta. She worked tirelessly to secure better working conditions for migrant farm workers in the 1960’s. But did you know she was also once a teacher?
Dolores was born in Dawson, New Mexico, on April 10, 1930. In fact, she just celebrated her 91st birthday earlier this week. Raised in Stockton, California, Dolores graduated in 1955 with an AA and her teaching credentials from the College of the Pacific. After her college graduation, she accepted a teaching position in a rural Stockton elementary school. She had been teaching for only a short time when she realized she wanted to devote her vast energy to migrant farm workers and their families. “I couldn’t stand seeing farm worker children come to class hungry and in need of shoes,” she once explained. “I thought I could do more by organizing their parents than by trying to teach their hungry children.”
After just one year, Dolores resigned from her teaching position, determined to launch a campaign that would fight the numerous economic injustices faced by migrant agricultural workers. Joining forces with the legendary labor leader Cesar Chavez, the intrepid educator helped organize a large-scale strike against the commercial grape growers of the San Joaquin Valley, an effort which raised national awareness of the abysmal treatment of America’s agricultural workers. She also negotiated contracts which led to their improved working conditions. The rest, as they say, is history.
Although there are several fairly good juvenile biographies of this extraordinary woman, there is no definitive adult biography about her. The closest thing to it is A Dolores Huerta Reader edited by Mario T. Garcia. This book includes an informative biographical introduction by the editor, articles and book excerpts written about her, her own writings and transcripts of her speeches, and an interview with Mario Garcia. You can find A Dolores Huerta Reader on amazon. I have also included a chapter about this remarkable teacher in my second book, entitled Chalkboard Heroes.