Arts & Culture

An Unsung Hero: Documentary Chronicles Life Of First Female Farm Labor Union Organizer In The Valley

KVPR | By Monica Velez

Published March 26, 2019 at 11:19 AM PDT

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Migrant mother Maria Moreno became the first farmworker woman in America to be hired as a union organizer. With peapickers harvesting in the background, Maria wears the typical dress of women in the fields, a hat and scarf to protect them.

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Migrant mother Maria Moreno became the first farmworker woman in America to be hired as a union organizer. Maria talks to Okie farmworkers who were Dust Bowl migrants during the Great Depression.

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Adios Amor Director Laurie Coyle filming in Texas.

Jane Greenberg, courtesy Adios Amor film

Adios Amor tells the story of one woman who should have made it into the history books but didn't. Maria Moreno was the first female farm worker to be hired as a union organizer.

Maria Moreno became the first female farm worker in America to be hired as a union organizer. Surrounded by farm workers and their children at a house meeting, Moreno listens and takes notes in 1960

Originally from Texas, Moreno lived with her husband and 12 children working in the fields. She was an indigenous woman with only a second-grade education but used her voice to rally support for farm workers' rights.

Listen to the above interview with Director Laurie Coyle to learn more about Moreno and why Coyle was compelled to scour through old archives and dig up her story.

Adios Amor will run at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Bakersfield College. The film will run April 2 at UC Merced at 4:30 p.m. and May 10 at Fresno State at 5:30 p.m.

For more information go to www.adiosamorfilm.com.