Luisa Moreno, 1906-1992
Luisa Moreno, 1906-1992
Born in Guatemala City, Guatemala, as a young girl Luisa Moreno traveled to Oakland, California for the education her home country had denied. After graduating from the College of Holy Names and returning to Guatemala, she organized La Sociedad Gabriela Mistral to encourage the acceptance of women to Guatemalan universities. Later in New York City, Moreno dedicated her life to unifying Latin American communities. During the Depression, Moreno organized garment factory workers and in 1935 as a professional organizer for the American Federation of Labor (AFL), Moreno moved to Florida to organize African American and Hispanic tobacco field workers. After joining the Unified Cannery, Agricultural, Packing, and Allied Workers of America (UCAPAWA), she moved to Texas then Los Angeles to organize cannery workers. In 1938, Moreno organized one of the first congresses supporting civil rights for Latinos and Latinas and in the 1940s, created a defense committee for Mexican Americans wrongly accused of murder. She was a constant target for deportation, labeled as a “dangerous alien” by the U.S. government but would return to Guatemala in 1950 by her own free will. Her work would pave the way for Dolores Huerta and César Chávez of the United Farmworkers Union.
W Challenge 
Luisa Moreno, 1906-1992
Born in Guatemala City, Guatemala, as a young girl Luisa Moreno traveled to Oakland, California for the education her home country had denied. After graduating from the College of Holy Names and returning to Guatemala, she organized La Sociedad Gabriela Mistral to encourage the acceptance of women to Guatemalan universities. Later in New York City, Moreno dedicated her life to unifying Latin American communities. During the Depression, Moreno organized garment factory workers and in 1935 as a professional organizer for the American Federation of Labor (AFL), Moreno moved to Florida to organize African American and Hispanic tobacco field workers. After joining the Unified Cannery, Agricultural, Packing, and Allied Workers of America (UCAPAWA), she moved to Texas then Los Angeles to organize cannery workers. In 1938, Moreno organized one of the first congresses supporting civil rights for Latinos and Latinas and in the 1940s, created a defense committee for Mexican Americans wrongly accused of murder. She was a constant target for deportation, labeled as a “dangerous alien” by the U.S. government but would return to Guatemala in 1950 by her own free will. Her work would pave the way for Dolores Huerta and César Chávez of the United Farmworkers Union.