She is the small woman with the shy smile standing to Senator Robert F. Kennedy’s right at the podium in the Ambassador Hotel ballroom on June 5, 1968, as he thanks campaign workers after his California primary victory. He thanked her by name—“all of those Mexican Americans, and Dolores Huerta who is an old friend of mine who has worked with the union, to thank her and tell her how much I appreciate her coming tonight.” Although she looked about 18, Huerta was 38 at the time, a seasoned labor activist and lobbyist, having co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) with César Chávez and negotiated the first NFWA contract during the legendary Delano grape strike. She is now president of the Dolores Huerta Foundation and sits on the board of both the Feminist Majority Foundation and the People for the American Way. … Back to Article