BAKERSFIELD, CA — Dolores Huerta, the labor leader who co-founded what became the United Farm Workers union with Cesar Chavez and spent decades fighting for farm workers, immigrants' rights and women's rights, has died of cancer at her home in Bakersfield, California. She was 96.

Huerta helped lead the strikes and boycotts that unionized many of California's grape growers in the 1960s and '70s, winning new protections and benefits for migrant laborers.

Earlier this year, Huerta broke a decades-long silence and publicly disclosed that Chavez, her longtime organizing partner, had sexually abused her.

Here's a timeline of Huerta's life and legacy:

Mid-1950s — Dolores Huerta transitioned from teaching to activism after seeing many hungry farm children in her classroom.

1955 — Huerta co-founded the Stockton chapter of the Community Service Organization, where she met Cesar Chavez.

1962 — Chavez and Huerta co-founded the organization that would become the United Farm Workers union.

1960s–1970s — Huerta helped lead the grape worker strikes and boycotts that unionized many of California's grape growers, winning new protections and benefits for migrant laborers.

1975 — The strikes and boycotts Huerta helped organize led to the landmark California Agricultural Labor Relations Act, protecting and regulating farm labor.

1999 — Huerta concluded her service as UFW vice president, a role she held from the union's founding, though she remained politically active.

2012 — President Obama presented Huerta with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

2026 — Allegations arose that Chavez sexually abused women and minors, and Huerta broke her silence, publicly disclosing her own account of abuse.

2026 — Huerta died of cancer at her home in Bakersfield, California, at age 96.