Visit part of Women's History Month celebration

In recognition of Women’s History Month, Dolores Huerta will speak at CSU Monterey Bay on March 14. The public is invited to this free event, scheduled for 7 p.m. in the World Theater.

The most prominent Chicana labor leader in the United States, Huerta co-founded the United Farm Workers union with Cesar Chavez. She has been an organizer and advocate for workers’ rights, immigrants’ rights and women’s rights for more than 50 years.

Huerta was a founding member of the Stockton chapter of the Community Service Organization (CSO) in 1955. The CSO battled segregation and police brutality; led voter registration drives; pushed for improved public services; and fought to enact new legislation. Through the CSO she met Chavez, and the two realized the need to organize farm workers in California.

In 1962, Huerta and Chavez resigned from the CSO and formed the group that would eventually become the United Farm Workers. The group rose to prominence in the 1970s after it organized a national grape boycott to raise consumer awareness of the poor working conditions of immigrant farm workers. Their work resulted in union contracts, better working conditions and health care for field workers.

Huerta continues to work as the public face of the UFW. She has won numerous awards, including the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award in 1998, and was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1993.

Driving directions and a campus map are available here. For more information, contact Tim Bills at 582-4645.