A Dolores Huerta Reader

by Garcia, Mario T.

• ISBN13: 9780826345134
• ISBN10: 0826345131
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-12-16
• Publisher: Univ of New Mexico Pr

Summary

Farm labor leader and civil rights advocate Dolores Huerta first worked with Cesar Chavez as a community organizer in Mexican American areas of southern California in the mid-1950s. Chavez dreamed of organizing farm workers, and in 1962 he started the National Farm Workers Association. He asked Huerta to work with them, and in the next three years they recruited a number of members. In 1965 the NFWA joined the AFL-CIO-affiliated Agricultural Workers' Committee in a strike against large grape growers in the San Joaquin Valley--a five-year strike that raised national awareness of the dismal treatment of the workers and led to the formation of the United Farm Workers union. Huerta's contributions to these efforts were invaluable in recruiting women for the cause, in keeping the union focused on nonviolent actions, and in gaining support in the eastern United States for the effective grape boycott that led to contracts for the union. Ten years after they started, they celebrated the passage of the Agricultural Labor Relations Act. They had made history. This is the first book to focus on Dolores Huerta. Throughout six decades of activism, she has made her own history and has been part of major events in the history of the country, standing alongside Robert Kennedy the night he was assassinated. Often called la Pasionaria, the passionate one, she continues to speak out on labor, environmental, antiwar, and women's issues. A Dolores Huerta Reader includes an informative biographical introduction, articles and book excerpts written about her, her own writing and speeches, and a recent interview with Mario Garcia where she expresses her unbending dedication to social justice. Anyone who wants to know more about Dolores Huerta should start with this book.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. xi
Introduction: La Pasionaria Chicana	p. xv
On Dolores Huerta
Dolores Huerta: The United Farm Workers Union	p. 3
Coleadership: The Strength of Dolores Huerta	p. 23
Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta: Partners in "La Causa"	p. 39
Traditional and Nontraditional Patterns of Female Activism in the United Farm Workers of America, 1962-1980	p. 53
Unsung Heroine of La Causa	p. 75
The Women of the Boycott	p. 79
Sorrow in the Orchards: Her Life for Years	p. 93
Stopping Traffic: One Woman's Cause	p. 97
Dolores Huerta: La Pasionaria of the Farmworkers	p. 105
Dolores Huerta Mothers Eleven Kids, One Labor Union	p. 115
UFW Official Operated on After S.F. Beating	p. 119
From the Fields Into the History Books	p. 123
UFW Co-Founder Comes out of Labor Shadow	p. 129
Woman of the Year: Dolores Huerta, For a Lifetime of Labor Championing the Rights of Farmworkers	p. 133
The Eternal Soldadera	p. 141
Labor Leader Dolores Huerta Credits Family and Faith	p. 155
Campus Workers Urged to Unite	p. 159
Dolores Huerta Speaks
Dolores Huerta Talks about Republicans, Cesar Chavez, Children, and Her Home Town	p. 163
Interview with Dolores Huerta: Early Family Influences	p. 177
Testimony of Dolores Huerta	p. 187
Letters Written by Dolores Huerta to Cesar Chavez, 1962-1964	p. 195
Statement of Dolores Huerta, Vice President, United Farm Workers Organizing Committee, AFL-CIO, to U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Migratory Labor, July 15, 1969	p. 213
Teamsters and UFW Debate, 1973	p. 219
Keynote Address before the Annual Convention of the American Public Health Association, October 21, 1974, New Orelans, Louisiana	p. 229
Speech Given by Dolores Huerta, UCLA, February 22, 1978	p. 241
Dialogue on Leadership and Popular Movements: The UFW Experience, Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions, March 12, 1985	p. 259
A Life of Sacrifice for Farm Workers	p. 279
Bush's "Cowboy Mentality": Interview with Dolores Huerta	p. 287
Interview with Dolores Huerta, Community Leader and Activist	p. 291
An Interview with Dolores Huerta	p. 295
Dolores Huerta: The Vision and Voice of Her Life's Work	p. 303
Dolores Huerta on Fr. Luis Olivares: Interview with Mario T. Garcia, April 5, 2005	p. 313
"Our Fight Is Your Fight": Civil Rights Leaders Dolores Huerta & Julian Bond Speak Out Loud and Clear for GLBT Equality	p. 321
Respect, Spanish, and Unemployment Insurance	p. 327
Dolores Huerta on Spirituality: Interview with Mario T. Garcia, June 1, 2007	p. 331
Bibliography	p. 347
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