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BRANIGAN CULTURAL CENTER

Branigan Cultural Center hosts ‘Dolores Huerta: Revolution in the Fields’

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“Dolores Huerta: Revolution in the Fields / Revolución en los Campos” will be on display at the Branigan Cultural Center, 501 N. Main St., Oct. 17 -Jan. 9, 2021, BCC said in a news release.

The exhibition shares the story of activist and leader Dolores Huerta and the farm workers movement of the 1960s and 1970s,” the news release said. It features reproductions of historic and personal photographs and graphic elements, a free, user-friendly, mobile tour smart phone app featuring interviews with Huerta and a short bilingual documentary video.

“The exhibition details Huerta’s life from her early influences, such as her mother, Alicia, and mentor, Fred Ross, who led to her groundbreaking time as the female voice in the traditionally male-dominated farm workers’ movement, through the United Farm Workers’ grape boycotts and landmark agreements with the grape-growing conglomerates,” the news release said.

The exhibit also features many who worked with Huerta on the movement, including fellow organizers Larry Itliong and César Chávez and artistic contributors Xavier Viramontes and El Teatro Campesino.

Before the movement, California grape laborers faced open discrimination, below-poverty wages and dangerously unsafe working and living conditions, according to the news release. “Huerta and her colleagues sacrificed their own well-being to challenge the system and galvanize solidarity for a better life for them.”

Yet, Huerta’s name and impact are often overlooked, BCC said, “including the misattribution of her coined phrase, “Yes, we can! / ¡Si, se puede!” to other historical figures. When most women were still expected to play primarily domestic roles, Huerta introduced new models of womanhood as an energetic picket captain, persuasive lobbyist and unyielding negotiator.”

The exhibition is organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) in collaboration with the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. It received federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center.

Las Cruces Museums have instituted new procedures to ensure the health and safety of visitors and staff. Call 575-522-3120 or 575/528-3330, email education@las-cruces.org or visit museums.las-cruces.org to find out about restrictions in place.

Guests with COVID-19 symptoms or who are sick will not be permitted to enter. Guests are required to follow health guidelines by wearing a mask over their nose and mouth, maintaining a distance of at least six feet from others at all times and refraining from touching museum objects.

BCC is open 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Saturday.

Dolores Huerta: Revolution in the Fields, Branigan Cultural Center,

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