Saintly Protest: Women Religious, Religious Women, and the Early United Farm Worker Movement

Abstract

Abstract: While the image of César Chávez graces the face of U.S. postal stamps, less recognized are the women of the United Farm Worker Movement. Yet Catholic women, from the better-known Dolores Huerta to regional organizers like Lupe Anguiano, were critical to the union’s early victories. This article begins the work of excavating the lives and labor of the women religious and religious women of the union, with an emphasis on the activism of Catholic Latinas. When structural changes within the Catholic Church of the mid-to-late twentieth century prompted women to reexamine their faith, they responded by supporting movements, such as the grape strike of 1965–1970, on picket lines, with fasts, and for some, with full-time labor. “Saintly Protest” turns to the grape strike and explores how Catholic women, including women religious, came to support the union, and the dynamic relationship between la cotidiana , their activism, and their faith.