Student Experience
Graduate students help preserve Dolores Huerta’s legacy through archival fellowship
Three UC Santa Cruz graduate students participated in an immersive, community-engaged archival fellowship—supported by a Mellon Foundation grant and UC Santa Cruz partners—that allowed them to process and preserve materials from the Dolores Huerta Foundation, gaining hands-on training while contributing to the legacy of the civil rights icon.
Stephanie Shugert Peña, Brittney Jimenez, Sylvanna Falcón, Dolores Huerta, Teresa Mora, Emily Gudmundson, J. Ramos, Lori de Leon.
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Key takeaways
- UC Santa Cruz graduate students gained practical, career-relevant skills in archival research and preservation through direct engagement with the personal papers of civil rights leader Dolores Huerta.
- The program connected students with expert archivists, faculty mentors, and community partners, offering personalized guidance and a model for collaborative, community-centered scholarship.
- The experience deepened students’ academic interests, inspired future career goals in archival work, and provided a powerful, personal connection to social justice history and activism.
This spring, three UC Santa Cruz graduate students had the unique opportunity to process archival materials from the renowned American labor leader and civil rights feminist activist, Dolores Huerta. The students were part of a special collaboration between the UCSC Dolores Huerta Research Center for the Americas, the Center for Archival Research and Training (CART) at the UCSC Library, and the Dolores Huerta Foundation in Bakersfield, California.
Alix Norton, Stephanie Shugert Peña, Brittney Jimenez, Emily Gudmundson, J. Ramos
The Humanities Institute and a grant from the Mellon Foundation “Expanding Latinx Studies at and beyond UC Santa Cruz” supported J. Ramos (Literature PhD student), Brittney Jimenez (LALS PhD student), and Stephanie Shugert Peña (LALS PhD student) with a fellowship for over 50 hours of archival training and travel to Bakersfield, California to participate in the Huerta Center Scholars Alternative Spring Break program at the Dolores Huerta Foundation. Professor Sylvanna Falcón of Latin American and Latino Studies co-developed the research learning opportunity with Teresa Mora, University Archivist and Head of Special Collections & Archives. With added administrative support from the Dolores Huerta Research Center for the Americas at UC Santa Cruz, Falcón and Mora have been working together as part of a larger multi-year UC Santa Cruz partnership with the Dolores Huerta Foundation that is also supported by the Mellon Foundation and the UC Santa Cruz Foundation Board Opportunity Fund. It was a significant and meaningful experience for the fellows to receive archival research training that empowered them to contribute to community-based archives and gain special insights into the history and legacy of the living civil rights icon, Dolores Huerta.
The graduate student fellows started in February with several weeks of training in archival theory and practice, led by CART Archivist Alix Norton and Huerta Project Archivist, Emily Gudmundson. The program emphasized both technical training and critical reflection on the role of archives to prepare the students for the project. During Spring break, the graduate student scholars traveled to the Dolores Huerta Foundation in Bakersfield to begin their on-site archival work with a team of faculty and staff from UC Santa Cruz.
In Bakersfield, the graduate fellows helped organize, describe, and preserve materials from Huerta’s personal papers and Foundation records—completing surveys, folder-level inventories, and summary descriptions of approximately 10 linear feet of archival materials. Lori de Leon, Archives Director of the Dolores Huerta Foundation, provided critical guidance and support to the students. The work was both challenging and rewarding for students. “I actually find a lot of joy in organizing records,” Brittney Jimenez reflected. She shared how processing notebooks and handwritten notes taught her to “look carefully for sensitive information,” highlighting the care required when working with community-based archives.
At the end of their work on the project, fellows visited the National Cesar Chavez Center at La Paz in Keene, California to learn more about the broader legacy of farmworker organizing and hear personal stories and historical insights from de Leon who was on the frontlines too. Chávez co-founded the United Farm Workers with Huerta in 1962. “The trip animated the historical happenings that the Dolores Huerta Foundation was borne out of,” J. Ramos reflected. “As a storyteller and keeper of stories, I think the entire opportunity, from being at the Dolores Huerta Foundation, to visiting La Paz, to meeting Dolores Huerta and her family was such a valuable experience for me. It brought history to life.”
The immersive learning experience left a lasting impression on the fellows and has influenced their future aspirations. “This program helped me assess my interest in archival research,” Stephanie Shugert Peña said. “I hope to be more involved in archives moving forward in my career.”
Teresa Mora explained, “The Library and Special Collections is uniquely qualified to offer this type of opportunity to our graduate students. Building upon the successes of the CART Program, led by Alix Norton, we have been able to develop a meaningful experience for students to learn about archival work and engage with this seminal collection.”
This project highlights the power of community-engaged scholarship to deepen learning and equip students with career skills and experiences for their futures, while supporting community partners in their work to preserve and share vital histories. Through their contributions to the Dolores Huerta Foundation and the mentorship of archivists and partners, the fellows not only gained hands-on experience in archival work but became part of a broader movement to honor and sustain the legacy of one of the most influential civil rights leaders of our time.