Dolores Huerta headlines opening of Smithsonian tribute at CSU Channel Islands

Dolores Huerta, the 92-year-old civil rights activist, will be on the CSU Channel Islands campus Wednesday for the local debut of a traveling Smithsonian Museum exhibition on her life and activism.

As part of the opening, Huerta is scheduled to read excerpts from the biography "Dolores Huerta: A Hero to Migrant Workers" in a "Storytelling with Dolores" event from noon to 1 p.m. at the Broome Library Plaza before a special conversation with local activists in the same location between 1:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. The exhibit will officially open its doors with a ribbon-cutting at 3 p.m. on the campus near Camarillo.

"Dolores Huerta: Revolution in the Fields/Revolución en los Campos" goes on display for the first time in Southern California and will remain open through May 7 in the John Spoor Broome Library Exhibition Hall.

The photo-based exhibition explores Huerta's life from its early days through the peak of her labor organizing efforts in the 1960s and 1970s.

"Huerta’s name and impact are overlooked, including the misattribution of her coined phrase, “Yes, we can!/Si, se puede!” to other historical figures," the Smithsonian wrote in its description of the exhibit. "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 display, based on a prior exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery, first opened in Sacramento four years ago before traveling through much of the southwestern United States, most recently appearing at a library in Gilroy.

Pilar Pacheco, who helped organize the exhibition as director of the university's Center for Community Engagement, said the campus display introduces Huerta's life and work to a new generation.

“This is especially important at a time when so much of history is being silenced and erased," she wrote in a university statement. "Hers is a voice and story that is to be celebrated today and always.”

University officials said they worked students into the project, with art history majors helping to set up the exhibit, Chicana/o studies majors leading student bus tours of the county's activist street art and art majors presenting screen-printing workshops with "Huerta-inspired designs."

Visitors can access the display daily at the library, which is open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays and 1 to 9 p.m. Sundays. For more information or to RSVP for events, visit go.csuci.edu/huerta-exhibition.

Isaiah Murtaugh covers education for the Ventura County Star in partnership with Report for America. Reach him at isaiah.murtaugh@vcstar.com or 805-437-0236 and follow him on Twitter @isaiahmurtaugh and @vcsschools. You can support this work with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Dolores Huerta to visit CSUCI for Smithsonian exhibit debut