Albuquerque, N.M. • Years before Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta began organizing poor farmworkers in California, a woman named Maria Moreno sought to sign up impoverished farmworkers for a fledgling union. The Mexican American mother of 12 coordinated rallies, recruited members in isolated areas and inspired others to demand a living wage.
By 1961, her work was so admired she was sent to a national union convention to address attendees that also heard from President John F. Kennedy and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
"Adios Amor: The Search for Maria Moreno" on PBS examines the life the obscure labor leader who galvanized poor agricultural workers during the late 1950s and early 1960s before vanishing from the public eye.