Dolores Huerta, who helped found the United Farm Workers, died Wednesday at 96, her family said^2,3. Family spokesman Erik Olvera told the Los Angeles Times she died in Bakersfield of cancer, surrounded by relatives³. ABC News said a family spokesperson confirmed cancer as the cause².

A family statement posted on her Instagram account, as reported by ABC News, said she had died that day and asked for privacy while plans to mark her life were prepared². BBC also reported the family announcement¹.

Huerta co-founded the National Farm Workers Association with Cesar Chavez and Gilbert Padilla, which became the United Farm Workers, ABC News reported². The union's work produced the first farmworker union contracts in U.S. history, according to that account². UFW President Teresa Romero said Huerta had left farm workers and the Latino community more organized than she found them².

Born April 10, 1930, in Dawson, New Mexico, she grew up in Stockton, California, ABC News and BBC reported^1,2. CalMatters said California marks April 10 as Dolores Huerta Day⁴. The UFW credited her with coining the motto Si Se Puede^1,2.

CalMatters said she was at a rally on the steps of the state Capitol in August, two months before her death⁴. California Labor Federation President Lorena Gonzalez said Huerta stayed in the fight for working people for decades⁴.

Earlier this year Huerta said Chavez had forced sex on her in the 1960s, resulting in two pregnancies she kept secret, the Los Angeles Times reported, describing accounts also involving other women³. BBC likewise reported those accounts¹. Gov. Gavin Newsom told reporters the revelations around Chavez must have been hard for her in recent months, CalMatters reported⁴.

Olvera said her family was clinging to memories as they mourned³. Funeral and public memorial details were not set in these reports².