Dolores Huerta honors Healdsburg’s first Latino Mayor – Abel De Luna
Civil rights icon Dolores Huerta will visit Healdsburg on May 18 to help honor the city’s first Latino mayor, Abel De Luna, as the community center is renamed in his honor.
May 18th, from 1 to 5 p.m. at the newly named center, will feature live music, guest speakers, and appearances by local elected officials.
The ceremony will also celebrate a rare distinction: the first public building in the city dedicated to a leader of Mexican heritage.
On May 18, the Healdsburg Community Center will officially become the Abel De Luna Community Center, honoring a beloved local leader whose decades of civic and cultural contributions have shaped the city.
Huerta, who co-founded the United Farm Workers alongside César Chávez, is a pioneering labor organizer and lifelong advocate for farmworkers’ rights, racial justice and gender equality. She will join De Luna at the event.
“I never imagined something like this would happen to me,” De Luna said. “The community center’s renaming, and that Dolores Huerta is coming to the event. She accepted immediately when we invited her.”
Organizers say the ceremony will not only honor De Luna’s legacy but spotlight the broader history of Latino leadership in the region.
Abel De Luna was elected Healdsburg’s first Latino mayor 47 years ago, and served for two years, but his influence extends far beyond politics. A champion of the arts, Spanish-language media and Latino festivals, he’s helped elevate Healdsburg’s cultural fabric while remaining a prolific music producer and community organizer.
His journey began in the late 1960s as a community aide for the War on Poverty program. It was then that he first crossed paths with Huerta — while helping Napa farmworkers sign a landmark contract with the United Farm Workers.
“I was helping the farmworkers in Napa,” he said. “After completing all the paperwork, Dolores Huerta arrived and signed the contract.”
Raquel Issenberg is the editor of La Prensa Sonoma. You can contact her at raquel.issenberg@laprensasonoma.com
