Dolores Huerta, the labor and civil rights organizer who co-founded the United Farm Workers with Cesar Chavez, died Wednesday at 96, her family said. She died at her home in Bakersfield, California, the Los Angeles Times reported. The family asked for privacy and said plans to recognize her life and legacy will follow.

Huerta helped build the farmworker movement from the Delano grape strike and boycott of the mid-1960s into a national cause. She coined the rallying cry "Sí, se puede," which later echoed far beyond the fields. In 2012, President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She was also the first Latina inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1993, NBC News reported.

Though Chavez was often the public face of the union, Huerta recruited members, held picket lines, and helped negotiate early contracts, including a 1966 deal with Schenley Wine Co. that the union has called the first farmworker-won agricultural contract in North America. She was arrested more than 25 times for nonviolent civil disobedience and kept organizing into her late 80s.

In 2026, Huerta disclosed in a New York Times investigation, as NBC News notes, that Chavez had sexually abused her during their years as union leaders. She said she had kept the secret for decades to protect the farmworker movement and described herself as a survivor. The Times investigation also alleged that Chavez groomed and abused girls and women. Huerta said Cesar's actions do not erase gains farmworkers won with thousands of allies.

What we know: Huerta died at 96. She co-founded the United Farm Workers, coined "Sí, se puede," and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012.
What we don't: A cause of death was not stated in the family statements carried by NBC News and ABC News.