BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — The world knew Dolores Huerta as a civil rights icon. But through one local photojournalist's lens, we see a more personal side of her story.
I spoke with John Harte about the moments he captured, and the stories those photographs still tell today.
It was April of 1993. Thousands gathered in Delano to say their final goodbyes to labor leader Cesar Chavez. Among them was Dolores Huerta, preparing to join a four-mile funeral procession.
Nearby was Bakersfield Californian photojournalist John Harte, who captured a moment he would never forget.
"She was leaned over and she was stepping out of her dress shoes and into a pair of tennis shoes to participate in the march. So I knelt down and started taking some pictures and she looked up and she saw me and she just said, 'Hello,'" Harte said.
It was the first time the two had met. But that photograph wouldn't appear in the Bakersfield Californian for another 33 years.
Harte says the image was overlooked amid the hundreds of photographs taken that day, finally making its way into the paper this week. And it would be just the first of many moments he captured throughout Huerta's life.
"The thing that really amazed me about her was how regular a person she was, and how approachable she was, and how easy she was to work with, given her fame," Harte said.
Harte's photographs document decades of Huerta's activism, but some of his fondest memories came when the camera wasn't in his hands. He recalls attending a dinner where Huerta needed someone to walk her to her car after dark.
"I walked her out to her car, and I held her hand, and I just walked her to her car, and we just talked. I can't even remember what we talked about. I was just blown away," Harte said.
Of all the pictures Harte captured over the years, he says one still stands above the rest.
"But my favorite picture is probably that very first picture, I think I really like that photograph," Harte said.
For Harte, these photographs are more than memories. They're pieces of history captured right here in Kern County.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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