THE VFA PIONEER HISTORIES PROJECT

Jessie Lopez De La Cruz

September 13, 1919 – September 2, 2013

“I am proud to say, that throughout my life wherever I saw injustice, I did what I had to do to correct it.”

Chicana American farm worker and community organizer. The first female recruiter for the UFW (United Farm Workers). Delegate to the 1972 Democratic National Convention. Adviser to the California Commission on the Status of Women. Secretary/Treasurer of National Land for People (an organization that worked to break up land monopolies in the San Joaquin Valley). Known for her work banning the short-handled hoe, educating fellow farm workers, promoting co-op farming, and her commitment to fighting injustice for the working poor.