The facts
Family spokesperson Erik Olvera said the cause was cancer, according to The New York Times obituary published by The Salt Lake Tribune. [2]
Huerta and Cesar Chavez founded the National Farm Workers Association in 1962. It merged with the Filipino-led Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee in 1966 to form the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee, which later became the UFW. [1][2]
She helped organize the Delano grape strike and nationwide boycott, and negotiated farmworker contracts. Her advocacy helped secure California’s 1975 Agricultural Labor Relations Act, which established farmworkers’ rights to organize and bargain collectively. [1][2][3]
President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012. [1][2]
California Governor Gavin Newsom ordered flags flown at half-staff in her honor. [3]
Sources
References support the numbered facts above. Source checks: 28 Oct 2026, 18:26 UTC.
- Labor Leader and Civil Rights Activist Dolores Huerta Dies at 96
Dolores Huerta Foundation · Primary source · 28 Oct 2026
The foundation’s original obituary confirms the date, age and place of death. Its biographical account is an interested institutional source.
- Dolores Huerta, labor leader and force for civil rights, has died
The New York Times, via The Salt Lake Tribune · Reporting · 28 Oct 2026
Robert D. McFadden’s New York Times report, republished by The Salt Lake Tribune, is one underlying report. It is editorially separate from the foundation; the family is the source of its death details, including the named spokesperson’s statement about cancer.
- Governor, First Partner issue statement on the passing of Dolores Huerta; state to lower flags in her honor
Office of the Governor of California · Primary source · 28 Oct 2026
Official statement confirming the governor’s flag order and recognizing Huerta’s labor and civil rights work.