The Complete History of the Famed Delano Grape Strike

This visual history details how Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez helped found the United Farm Workers and led one of the most successful union boycotts in American history.

By Ariel Aberg-Riger

October 9, 2019

A banner at the United Farm Workers convention Fresno California 1975.

California's dry arid land helps feed the U.S.

Most of the farmworkers who help keep feed America fed are Mexican

AntiMexican sentiment and stereotypes about farmlaborers flourished

Hatred of Mexican farmworkers was exacerbated by the Great Depression which brought poor white farmers to California in...

Between 19291939 one million Mexicans were sent back to Mexico or forced to leave the U.S.

The Bracero program was created to boost the number of cheap guest farm laborers who were exploited

Mexican farm workers weren't protected by labor laws and lived in dirty camps run by their employers

By the late 1950s activists like Dolores Huerta began advocating for California farmworkers

Cesar Chavez was another charismatic young activist fighting to help farm workers and register them to vote

In 1962 Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez founded the National Farmworkers Association

The NFWA set up a credit union and arranged immigration counseling for workers

In September 1965 the workers at a grape farm in Delano decided to go on strike

Workers took to the fields at dawn to spread the word about the upcoming strike and what they were demanding

The strike grew in size over the fall but the expenses piled up for the laborers who were not able to work

Still the strike continued. Huerta made an impact as a woman leading this movement while Chavez was a darkskinned former...

Students donated canned food and other unions sent money or refused to transport the grapes.

Union representatives encouraged boycotts of the sale of the grapes.

Thousands of supporters from all backgrounds joined the farm labor movement

Throughout 1966 the strike continued to spread. Consumers around the country joined in boycotting stores that sold grapes

The pressure built with growers hiring thugs to beat up farm workers trying to unionize. But in 1970 five years after...

The use of several harmful pesticides was also banned. 50 years later the Delano grape strike is considered one of the...

The strike is credited for awakening Latinx political power and igniting the Chicano movement. But the struggle of...

The UFW is still organizing and working to obtain farm worker justice

Want more from Teen Vogue? Check this out: 6 Contemporary Latinx Activists You Should Know

Ariel Aberg-Riger is a self-taught artist and visual storyteller who lives in Buffalo. ... Read More

Keywordsdolores huerta farmworkers strike latinx heritage month latinx Immigration migrants labor

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