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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, With the month of March designated as Women's
3History Month and with Latino Unity Day celebrated on March
423, the members of the Illinois House of Representatives wish
5to recognize activist and labor leader Dolores Huerta, who has
6worked her entire life to improve social and economic
7conditions for farmworkers and has served as a leader in the
8fight against discrimination and as a defender of civil
9rights, equal rights, and dignity for all; and
 
10    WHEREAS, Dolores Huerta was born Dolores Clara Fernández
11to Juan Fernández and Alicia Fernández in Dawson, New Mexico
12on April 10, 1930; she grew up in Stockton, California and
13attended Stockton High School, where she was active in
14numerous school clubs and the Girl Scouts; she received her
15associate teaching degree from the University of the Pacific's
16Delta College; and
 
17    WHEREAS, Dolores Huerta briefly taught school in the
181950s, where she saw many hungry farm children coming to
19school and thought she could do more to help them by organizing
20farmers and farm workers; she began her career as an activist
21when she cofounded the Stockton chapter of the Community
22Service Organization (CSO) in 1955, which led voter
23registration drives and fought for economic improvements for

 

 

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1Latinos; alongside activist César Chávez, she founded the
2National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) in 1962, which was
3the predecessor of the United Farm Workers' Union (UFW) formed
4three years later; she served as UFW vice president until
51999; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Despite facing ethnic and gender bias, Dolores
7Huerta was a talented negotiator, securing services for
8farmworkers in California in the form of Aid to Families with
9Dependent Children and disability insurance in 1963; she
10helped organize the 1965 Delano strike of 5,000 grape workers
11and was the lead negotiator in the workers' contract that
12followed; throughout her work with the UFW, she organized
13workers, negotiated contracts, and advocated for safer working
14conditions, including the elimination of harmful pesticides;
15she also fought for unemployment and healthcare benefits for
16agricultural workers; she was the driving force behind the
17nationwide table grape boycotts in the late 1960s that led to a
18successful union contract by 1970; and
 
19    WHEREAS, Dolores Huerta led another consumer boycott of
20grapes in 1973 that resulted in the ground-breaking California
21Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975, which allowed farm
22workers to form unions and bargain for better wages and
23conditions; she worked as a lobbyist to improve workers'
24legislative representation throughout the 1970s and 1980s;

 

 

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1since the 1990s and 2000s, she has worked to elect more Latinos
2and women to political office and has championed women's
3issues; and
 
4    WHEREAS, Dolores Huerta continues to work tirelessly,
5developing leaders and advocating for the working poor, women,
6and children; as founder and president of the Dolores Huerta
7Foundation, she travels across the country in support of
8campaigns and legislation that work toward equality and defend
9civil rights; she continues to be a voice for social justice
10and public policy; and
 
11    WHEREAS, Dolores Huerta has been honored for her work as a
12fierce advocate for farmworkers, immigrants, the working poor,
13and women; she has received numerous awards, including the
14Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Human Rights in 1998, the
15Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012, the Ohtli Award from
16the Mexican Government, the James Smithson Award of the
17Smithsonian Institution, and multiple honorary doctorates from
18universities throughout the United States; she was inducted
19into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1993 and the
20California Hall of Fame in 2013; and
 
21    WHEREAS, Dolores Huerta's accomplishments and
22contributions should be properly memorialized within the
23history and culture of the United States, as she deserves

 

 

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1proper recognition for her numerous sacrifices in the name of
2justice and the amelioration of severely inadequate working
3conditions; therefore, be it
 
4    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
5HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
6we recognize Dolores Huerta for her activism as a labor
7organizer, her contributions to workers' rights, and her
8dedication to social justice; and be it further
 
9    RESOLVED, That we additionally recognize Dolores Huerta
10for continuing to fight the good fight, serving as an
11inspiration to everyone; and be it further
 
12    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
13presented to Dolores Huerta as an expression of our esteem and
14respect.