Journalist and Mexican-American civil rights pioneer Jovita Idár (1885–1946) dedicated her life to frontline activism along the Laredo, Texas border. Standing shoulder-to-shoulder in historical significance with legendary investigative reporters like Ida B. Wells, Nellie Bly, and Charlotta Spears Bass, Idár used the power of the bilingual press to fight segregation, police brutality, and gender inequality. She also dedicated herself to teaching and was a leader in a nursing brigade during the Mexican Revolution. Her extraordinary life deserves added recognition.

The Era in Which She Lived

In the early 1900s, Mexicans and Mexican Americans moved freely between the U.S. and Mexico, but as more Anglos moved into the region the fluid lifestyle became problematic. White families wanted possession of the towns and the countryside, and Texas Rangers were there to help reduce the presence of the Mexican Americans.

Jovita Idár’s father published a Spanish-language newspaper that stood up for the rights of the Mexican Americans who lived in the region.  In her mid 20s, Jovita Idár joined the paper and wrote about the injustices she saw. She brought attention to the unequal education delivered to Mexican American children because of segregation. She frequently was assigned to cover lynchings of Mexicans. They occurred often—many times carried out by Texas Rangers.

Recognition of Idar arrived long after her death in 1946. In 2023, Jovita Idár’s face appeared on a newly minted quarter as part of the American Women Quarters Program.

Correcting the Record

Most biographies of Jovita Idár tell a story of her standing down violence at a newspaper office. The story goes that the Texas Rangers were sent to destroy the presses of the newspaper where she worked. Jovita was said to have held them off by standing in the doorway.  In 2025, historian and researcher Daniel Buck provided LMTOnline (an online Laredo news site) with his research findings. After combing through many stories published in newspapers of the era, he found no documentation of the incident. He determined that the story was apocryphal. 

However, there was definitely violence against Mexican American newspapers. In 1916, the district attorney of Webb County directed the Texas Rangers to arrest the editor of El Progreso where Jovita worked. The D.A. was incensed because the newspaper published editorials supporting the revolutionaries in Mexico.

After his arrest, the editor was released on bail but that was not the end of it.  A month later, a vigilante group kidnapped him and sent him over the border. Shortly after that, the vigilantes returned and destroyed the printing presses. Though there was plenty of violence in Laredo during those years, Jovita Idár’s story does not hold up after Daniel Buck’s research.

Early Life

Jovita Idár (1885-1946) was born in Laredo, Texas, the second of eight children. Her parents were of Mexican descent. Her father owned and published a Spanish language newspaper, called La Crónica.

The newspaper ownership gave the family status and knowledge. Her father was a strong advocate for civil rights and social justice. The Idár children knew that getting an education was a privilege not open to all people in Laredo. At home, they heard of many of the issues affecting Mexican Americans of Laredo, and many of them took it to heart.

The children attended Methodist schools. Jovita did well. At the age of 18, she graduated with a teaching certificate from the Laredo Seminary (also called the Holding Institute). She saw teaching as a logical way to improve the lives of those in her community.

In that era, schools in many parts of the country were segregated by race. The better-funded community school was for white children. Two other schools were designated for “other.” One building was for Black students; another was for Chicana (Mexican) children. Idár was hired to work with the Mexican students in Los Ojuelos, Texas, not far from Laredo.

When Jovita Idár arrived at her school, she found that the simplest needs—paper and pencils as well as books and desks—were not available for her students. What’s more, all classes were to be conducted in English. She saw a need—and the importance of—communicating in Spanish as well.

She remained at the school for a time, but she cast about for ways she could do more to help Mexican Americans.

Worried About Culture

In southwest Texas in the early part of the twentieth century, the era was sometimes called Juan Crow (like Jim Crow in the South). Signs at restaurants and bus stations often specified, “No Negroes, Mexicans or dogs allowed.” Law enforcement officers saw nothing wrong with intimidating Mexican Americans.

While all the discriminatory issues were important, Jovita Idar was particularly passionate about matters concerning children, gender equity (including suffrage for women), and the loss of the area’s cultural identify.

Her experience in the school caused her to worry about how the children would learn about the history and culture of Mexican Americans. The few books she was given for the classroom taught about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.  She knew that to Tejanos (Mexicans who lived along the border before the modern border was established in 1840), there were people of Hispanic heritage who mattered, too. Her class needed role models from their own background.

Among the heroes she shared with her classes were Miguel Hidalgo (1753-1811) and Benito Juarez (1806-1872). Hidalgo was a Catholic priest who is considered a founding father of Mexico. Juarez was the first democratically elected president (1858) and the first indigenous president to govern Mexico.

Tensions

As more Anglos moved to Laredo, they wanted to take over more land. Tejanos had long lived in the area, but protests were met with force. Lynchings were common. Between 1914-1919, Texas Rangers were responsible for at least 5000 deaths of Tejanos—many of them by lynching. It wasn’t just a Southern thing.

Needed New Path

She finally decided that returning to the family newspaper, La Crónica, made the most sense.Perhaps if she wrote about the issues affecting Mexican Americans, she could help bring about change.

Often writing under a pseudonym, Jovita Idár wrote about everything from the poor living condition of Mexican American workers to discrimination in schools and society in general. She often had to document stories about lynchings of Mexicans along the border.

Organized for Fair Treatment

In 1911, Jovita and her family organized El Primer Congreso Mexicanista (the First Mexican Congress).  The intent was to pull together men and woman who advocated for fair and equal treatment for people of Mexican heritage. Those who attended were government leaders, activists, and journalists from the area.

She also advocated for women and the vote. This was a cause her father also supported, and as time went on, Jovita was able to form an organization to push for the cause.

As a result of this first Congress, Jovita Idár pulled together a logical outgrowth that helped put forward women’s causes: La Liga Femenil Mexicanista (League of Mexican Women). She became the first president.  Most of the members were working-class women. Because people from both sides of the border continued to freely interact, the League worked to serve populations in both Laredo and its sister city, Nuevo Laredo.

The league fought for the rights of all Mexican Americans but with a particular emphasis on issues pertaining women and girls. They did everything from run clothing drives to help the community to hosting cultural events to celebrate Mexican heritage. When they could, they established free education for Mexican children. Idár was quoted as saying, “When you educate a woman, you educate a family.”

The Mexican Revolution

In 1910, the Mexican Revolution to overthrow the government of President Porfirio Diaz started.

Economic inequality and political repression were ongoing in Mexico, but when Diaz imprisoned his main opponent so that Diaz could declare himself the winner of the latest election, outright rebellion ensued. Many residents of Nueva Laredo (in Mexico) moved to Laredo (U.S.) and citizens of the area couldn’t help but be involved.

Some of Jovita Idár’s friends began crossing the Southern border to help care for the wounded. They declared themselves La Cruz Blanca (the White Cross). Jovita Idár left the newspaper and joined the group. She helped with recruitment of more people, but she also stepped in to help care for the injured.

In 1914, Jovita returned to Laredo and accepted a job writing for El Progreso. The newspaper took a strong stand in favor of the revolutionaries in Mexico.

In November 1916, Jovita Idar founded a weekly newspaper, Evolución, which operated until 1920.

Marriage

In 1917, Jovita married Bartolo Juárez, a plumber and tinsmith. They moved to San Antonio in 1921. Her activism continued there. The married couple founded a Democratic Club and became political leaders. She also helped establish a free kindergarten and volunteered as a Spanish translator at the county hospital.  Much of her work involved helping new immigrants become naturalized citizens.

By the 1940s, Jovita Idar was sick with advanced tuberculosis—a disease for which there was no cure. In 1946, she died of a pulmonary hemorrhage.

Roberto Clemente was an extraordinary baseball player with a presence that captivated fans, especially young people. Known for his powerful hitting, swift base-running, and an arm likened to a “rifle” for its strength and precision, Clemente left an unforgettable mark on the game. While he loved baseball, his devotion to his family and his homeland of Puerto Rico came above all else.

Today, baseball showcases players from many ethnic backgrounds, but there was a time when Latino players faced severe discrimination. Although Jackie Robinson’s entry into Major League Baseball in 1947 marked the beginning of integration, progress remained slow and uneven. For Latino players, even in the 1960s, segregation persisted, as they were often barred from staying in the same hotels or eating in the same restaurants as their white teammates during spring training in the South.

The Pittsburgh Pirates

Roberto Clemente (1934-1972) persevered, playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates for eighteen seasons. He won four national League batting titles; 12 Gold Gloves, recognizing his work as a defense player in right field. Remarkably, he achieved 3000 hits during his career (one of only ten players to do by 1972 when Clemente hit that record. He was also the first Puerto Rican to be voted Most Valuable Player (1971 World Series). Later, he was selected for the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Clemente’s values involved doing all he could for his country of birth. Whenever he had the opportunity, he ran baseball clinics for children there, as that was an opportunity that he never had.

During the baseball season, he visited children in the local hospitalswhere the team played.

He died during the baseball off-season when he was in a plane crash taking supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua on New Year’s Eve 1972.

Early Life

Roberto Enrique Clemente was the youngest of seven siblings born to Luisa Walker in Carolina, Puerto Rico. His father, Melchor, was a foreman for a sugar cane enterprise. Resources were tight, so Melchor Clemente’s sons often worked alongside their father. Sugar cane is heavy and hard to handle so the boys became strong doing the work.

Both parents set an example of hard work and discipline. His mother took care of the family but she and Melchor also committed to providing lunch to many of the sugar cane workers. Luisa rose early every day to prepare the midday meal.

In high school, Roberto Clemente was a great athlete. He became a track and field star, participating in high jump and the javelin throw. But his preference for sports play was baseball.

Baseball in the Barrio

Baseball was a popular street game in the barrios, but in the Carolina district, many of the children did not have money for equipment. Clemente and his brothers sometimes used a broomstick or a Guava branch as a bat.

They often lacked a baseball, so they used a paper ball, a rubber ball, or a lumpy sphere of strings and old rags, according to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. 

During one barrio game, Clemente was noticed by an executive with the Sello Rojo rice company. The company sponsored a softball team, and the fellow recruited Clemente to play for them.  

Getting Noticed By the Dodgers

While still in high school, he signed with the Puerto Rican baseball team, the Santurce Cangrejeros, a winter league team supported by the Puerto Rican Professional Baseball League. The first year he saw little play, but during the second year he was on the starting lineup. A scout for the Brooklyn Dodgers noticed him.

In 1954, the Brooklyn Dodgers offered Roberto Clemente a contract with a signing bonus. Following the Baseball League rules, players paid more than $4,000 as a signing bonus were considered “Bonus Babies.”  Clemente’s bonus was $10,000 to sign.

According to the League, the teams were to abide by certain rules with bonus babies. The signing  player was not to be shipped off to a farm team at the beginning of his contract. He was to stay with the team that signed him, playing when he could. In theory, this was a good idea, but bonus babies were young players and needed more opportunity to play before working with the Major Leagues, so in many cases, it was counter productive.

The Brooklyn Dodgers must have hoped that no one would notice that they placed Clemente with an affiliated team, the Montreal Royals. They wanted him to have more playing experience, but the coach of the Royals was told, “If you notice baseball scouts in the crowd, bench him.”

They knew Clemente was special, and they didn’t want him seen and possibly drafted by another team. 

Return to Puerto Rico For the Winter League

Customarily, Black and Latino players finished the regular baseball season in the U.S., and then joined a team to play for a Latin American country for the winter season. These players made less money than their white counterparts. They loved the game, but it also offered the opportunity to increase their income.

After Clemente finished his second season with the Royals, he returned to play ball with a Puerto Rican team as he always did. It was probably there that he was spotted by the Pittsburgh Pirates. According to Rule 5 in baseball, if the team that signed a “bonus baby” violates the contract, then Rule 5 permitted other teams to make offers.

Someone with the Pirates must have known that Clemente was playing for the Montreal Royals, so they bought out Clemente’s contract with a payment to the Dodgers of $4,000.

By the mid-1950s, Clemente was on his way to Pittsburgh.

Father Comes to a Few Games

 Melchor Clemente was a hard-working man. He loved his family but he didn’t have time for side interests or hobbies.  Finally, when Roberto was playing in the winter league and making a name for himself, Melchor agreed to come to a game. In an anecdote from David Maraniss’ book, Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball’s Last Hero, Maraniss writes that Melchor did not understand baseball.

After one of the games, Melchor told his son he was very sorry that he was relegated to run around to all the bases when most of the others got up to bat and then got to sit down.

Joined the Marine Reserve

Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens by birthright. Because Roberto Clemente was a patriotic man to both Puerto Rico and America, he was proud to sign up for the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve in 1958. His training involved six months active service, split between Parris Island, South Carolina, and Camp LeJeune, North Carolina.

He ultimately said that the strength training he did with the military helped him overcome back problems he suffered since his car had been hit by a drunk driver when Clemente was only 20.

Personal Life

While home in Puerto Rico, Roberto Clemente became smitten by a young woman he met. It took persistence for Clemente to get Vera Zabala to agree to go out with him. Then when it worked out between them, he worked hard to persuade Vera and her father to agree to a marriage.

The couple was married in November of 1964. It was a great marriage. They had three children. The discriminatory atmosphere in the United States made both Vera and Roberto very uncomfortable. Vera visited when Clemente was in the U.S. but tended not to stay long

Both Vera and Roberto felt strongly that their children should be born in Puerto Rico, so each time, she was pregnant, she returned home.

The two were also united in the charity work that Clemente found important and rewarding.

Segregation

Both Latino and Black players continued to face discrimination in the United States, even as late as the 1960s.

Because Clemente was one of the first Latino players to qualify for a major league team in the United States, he often encountered discrimination. Three Latino baseball players, Victor Pellot, Hiram Bithorn, and Luis Olmo, known as the Three Kings—preceded him. There were still many obstacles to overcome.

When the team traveled, he could not travel or eat or stay with the team because of “whites only” restrictions. The practice was that the Black and Latino players wait on the bus while the white players went into a restaurant for a meal. When the team came out, they would bring food for the waiting team members.

Clemente was both saddened and angry by this and felt that there should be no “second class” team members.

By 1961, Clemente was sick of this treatment and complained bitterly. The Pittsburgh Courier, a Black newspaper, took up his campaign. Team management finally responded, but the solution was not to let the men join their white friends. They were provided with a station wagon. Instead of traveling on the bus, the minority players were able to drive themselves to the next destination and look for restaurants where they could be fed.

He and the team’s Cuban shortstop were placed with Black families in Pittsburgh because they could not stay with the team.

Visceral Understanding of the Civil Rights Movement

Clemente became friends with Martin Luther King, Jr, and the two men enjoyed the opportunities they had to talk together.

King was in Memphis in April of 1968 to aid the sanitation workers who were on strike. He was assassinated while there.

Clemente was beside himself at the loss of his friend and the civil rights leader. King was to be buried on April 9, and yet Clemente and his team were to start the new season on April 8 of that year. Led by Clemente, the Black players refused to play unless opening day was moved to April 10 so the players could attend the funeral.

As the Major League management saw what had happened, they wisely moved the opening day for all teams. Despite that, the early games took place against the backdrop of civil unrest in more than 100 cities. 

Demons

Roberto Clemente was first to admit that he had many demons. The car accident when he was only 20 dislodged three of the discs in his lower spine. Low back pain followed him the rest of his career. Every game was preceded by a trip to the team trainer.

He had great difficulty sleeping, perhaps partly because of the back pain. His disrupted sleep was particularly vexing during baseball season when he couldn’t get the rest he needed.

In all likelihood, the chronic pain led to many of his other health concerns. However in the winter of 1965, he came down with malaria and was seriously ill. He was hospitalized and lost almost 25 pounds.

To have been seriously ill only compounded his anxiety about his aches and pains. The media sometimes wrote of him as a hypochondriac. This further angered him.

Baseball Achievements

As a baseball player, he was beloved by the public and seemed to have a magnetic appeal. Clemente was known for excellent out fielding. He could catch and throw whatever came his direction. He had a strong arm, powerful wrists, and one writer described him as having eyes in his fingertips—his catches were so uncanny.

He earned 12 Gold Gloves for outstanding fielding, and he emerged from his career with 3,000 hits and was a four-time batting champion. He was also selected as outstanding player of 1971 World Series. (For complete statistics on Roberto Clemente, see his Major League Baseball page.

Because he stayed in such good shape throughout his career, reporters were always looking for answers to his eating and exercise routine. He got tired of answering the question as he got older and started telling writers that he put in a hard 3-hour workout during the off-season. In fact, nothing could have been further from the truth. He was more likely to be at home doing small repairs on the house than at the gym exercising.

The Bats He Preferred

At the time, Clemente became one of the baseball players that had 3000 hits in his career, he was one of only ten players. (Today that number is only 33 players. It’s an exclusive club.)

Fans loved watching him when he came up for bat. He preferred heavier bats. They were a challenge to lift, but Clemente made it look easy.

He originally used a bat made by Hillerich & Bradsby, commercialized as the Louisville Slugger bat.  Later in his career, he came to prefer a bat that was made by the same company but was originally made for a baseball player named Bernard Bartholomew “Frenchy” Uhalt. Uhalt played in the Pacific Coast League, and while his career spanned only 57 games in the minor leagues, he became well-known because Roberto Clemente came to favor his bat.

At the end of the season, Clemente generally met with a representative from Hillerich & Bradsby. He knew everything about the bats he liked, and one of the points he made was that the bats should be made of wide grains, He knew that wide grains were from summer growth, and that was what he preferred.

He tested the bats by swinging them against each other and could identify based on the sound.

Just before his death, the company was at work on a new model for him. In late December, they sent two versions of the bat so he could choose. Sadly, he likely never held either in his hands.

At the Plate

Fans loved watching him approach home plate when it was his turn to bat. He never smiled. He sometimes took with him two or three bats to the on-deck circle. According to Davad Maraniss, he carried them all in one hand and then put one knee down to check the bats again. He then made his selection, and clearly his system worked

Good Works

While Roberto Clemente’s time for other activities was limited during the baseball season, one deed he could do was visit children in hospitals, which he faithfully did. He generally sorted through the letters himself to decide which place he had time to visit.

After his career, he aspired to build a “sports city” in Puerto Rico so that kids would have opportunities he never had. Even before he retired, he ran clinics for kids whenever he could. (Today 30 percent of baseball players are Latino, the largest group of players in the MLB.)

Pride in Puerto Rico

Clemente took to heart that Puerto Ricans were U.S. citizens, and he couldn’t understand the condescending attitude he encountered time and again.

His love for his home country was sincere, and he wished to be respected for his patriotism to his place of birth. When the Pittsburgh Pirates won the World Series in 1971, Clemente made his first remarks in Spanish, paying homage to the values and skills that he learned there.

Even once he had been in the Major Leagues for a time, he always tried to return to play in the winter league in Puerto Rico. He wanted to do all he could to make the lives of his people better.

He and Vera also wanted all three of their children born there, so even if she was with Roberto for part of the year, she went home before her due date was near.

Good Works

While Roberto Clemente’s time for other activities was limited during the baseball season, one deed he could do was visit children in hospitals, which he faithfully did. He generally sorted through the letters himself to decide which place he had time to visit.

After his career, he aspired to build a “sports city” in Puerto Rico so that kids would have opportunities he never had. Even before he retired, he ran clinics for kids whenever he could. (Today 30 percent of baseball players are Latino, the largest group of players in the MLB.)

Earthquake in Nicaraugua

In late 1972, Roberto Clemente served as manager of the Puerto Rico national baseball team at the Amateur World Series. The games ended in Managua, the capital of Nicaragua.

When Managua experienced a massive earthquake in December of 1972, Clemente was deeply affected by the difficulties the country faced. He immediately started collecting food and supplies the people would need, in addition to raising money

The goods began being shipped to Nicaragua, but soon word came to Clemente that the money and the supplies were not getting through to the residents most affected by the disaster. Political graft was siphoning off money and supplies.

With that information, Clemente decided he had no choice but to take the latest collection of supplies to Nicaragua himself. A friend helped him find a plane he could charter. Neither of them knew that the airplane had been poorly maintained, and the pilot who was hired at the last minute had no experience with this particular plane.

The results were disastrous.  With Clemente on board, the plane took off. Almost immediately the aircraft dove into the water. All was lost and Roberto Clemente’s body was never recovered.

It was a sad day for baseball; a sad day for America, and an absolute tragedy for his family and the people of Puerto Rico who revered him.

Hall of Fame

The sports world was so stunned by the tragedy, they opted out of the five-year rule on when players were eligible for the Hall of Fame. Eleven weeks after the plane went down, Roberto Clemente was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Clemente once said:
“If you have a chance to help others and don’t, you are wasting your time on this earth…” 

Also read about Roy Campanella.

George Meléndez Wright was the first professional park service employee to bring focus to wildlife in the parks. He was only 21 when he was hired by Yosemite National Park, and he rose quickly in his career.

As a young college-educated biologist (degrees in forestry and zoology from the University of California, Berkeley), he emerged with a delight in learning about the natural world. This led him to a clear-eyed vision for how vital wildlife was in the parks.

Unfortunately, he and a colleague were killed in a work-related trip to Big Bend National Park in 1936. Because of his untimely death, the deepening of the economic Depression, and the coming of World War II, many of Wright’s ideas could not be implemented for several decades.

Today Park administrators and biologists look back and see that Wright was a visionary who led the way for many of the conservation policies implemented in the 1960s and beyond.

Who Was George Meléndez Wright?

George Wright (1904-1936) was born to a well-to-do couple in San Francisco. His mother, Mercedes Meléndez Wright, was from  San Salvador where her family had strong and powerful roots. His father, John Tennant Wright, was a ship captain who also ran an active and successful import-export trading business along the Pacific Coast.

The couple had three sons. George was the middle child. His mother died when he was only 2. George’s father kept George in San Francisco with him, but he sent the older and younger boys—John and Charles– to San Salvador to be raised by his mother’s family.

Then another disaster occurred. When George was 8 his father died. George moved in with his great aunt, Cordelia Ward Wright, and his brothers remained in El Salvador.

George had great support from Aunt Cordelia, and as a youth, he explored the San Francisco area, hiking and studying the natural world. In high school, Wright established a branch of the Audubon Society. He held regular meetings and loved leading field trips.

Berkeley

At age 16, he was accepted to study at the University of California, Berkeley. Cordelia Wright always wanted what was best for George. He was young for college, so Cordelia moved to Berkeley and bought a home where they could live. Wright and Aunt Cordelia became active participants in the science community.

Influential Professor

One of Berkeley’s best-known professors in the field of biology and zoology was Professor Joseph Grinnell (1877-1939). He was head of Berkeley’s Museum of Vertebrate Zoology but he still taught classes at the university.

Grinnell was well-known for his scientific note-taking method. He specified that students use a certain type of notebook and taught a system of careful note-taking. Students who followed it documented all they observed and their exact findings in the wild.

Because Grinnell taught for many years, several generations of students learned the system. This was a gift to students at the time, and it is a gift to scholars now. Scientists can still go back and read detailed notes about the explorations made by Wright and others.

College Summers

Because George Wright inherited his portion of his father’s estate when he was young, Wright willingly offered to fund adventures for nature study.

One summer he recruited fraternity brothers to travel with him to national parks in the West.

This was the beginning of Americans taking car trips. As more people bought cars, the popularity of auto camping grew. Companies made lean-to tents that attached to cars. That way people didn’t have the added expense of overnight accommodation. This increased people’s interest in spending time in the parks.

Forest and Park Management

George Meléndez Wright entered the field of forestry and park management at an important time. Managing and caring for public lands became increasingly important from the 1890s through the early part of the 20^th century. This was particularly true under President Theodore Roosevelt.

As the logging industry boomed, land stewards saw that if forests were not protected, the industry would run roughshod through wooded areas. Roosevelt and his advisor, Gifford Pinchot, a forester trained in Germany, started the Forest Service, which set aside millions of acres of forests to buffer against destruction.

Up until this time, conservation had not received much public attention. The country seemed so vast and the land so plentiful, but Pinchot and Roosevelt could see what was coming.

National Parks Created

Just as the administration saw that forest lands needed to be protected, it also became evident that parkland needed to be set aside and protected.

The first national park was Yellowstone National Park, established in 1872. As the government identified parks and monuments for preservation, they were managed by a patchwork of agencies. Some were under the Department of the Interior, and others were part of the Forest Service. The War Department watched over preserved battlefields.

In 1916, President Woodrow signed a bill creating the National Park Service. This service was placed under the Department of the Interior. (It took until 1933 before an Executive Order was signed bringing everything together as part of the National Park Service.)

Wright’s Career Begins in Yosemite

By the time George Meléndez Wright graduated from Berkeley, he already had traveled many miles in western parks. He’d accompanied an expedition to Alaska to evaluate lands there, and he made many solo trips around the west. This put him in a good position for a full-time job with the park system.

In 1927, he was hired by Yosemite as an assistant park naturalist. He was the first Hispanic to hold a professional position in the National Park Service. 

This was an exciting time for Yosemite. The National Park Service was only 11 years old, and visits to the parks were beginning to grow. In Yosemite, road were being created and improved. Tourists were eager to come.

Wright’s Aunt Moves Too

George Wright and his aunt were very much a family. She appreciated his presence in her life, and he was grateful for all she had done. When Wright accepted the Yosemite job, Aunt Cordelia took rooms in the newly opened Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite Valley.

This arrangement seemed to work for both of them, and in author Jerry Emory’s book, George Meléndez Wright: The Fight for Wildlife and Wilderness in the National Parks, he notes that Wright frequently dropped off morning coffee for his great aunt. He often met up with her for dinner as well.

Wright Listens and Studies

One of Wright’s most important traits was his willingness to listen. When he arrived at any location, he sought out the “old-timers” and wanted to hear all they observed over the years. This gave him a better understanding for what was the very new field of park management.

While at Yosemite, Wright acquired a core working group. Benjamin Hunter Thompson was a college student waiting tables to earn money for college. Upon graduation, Thompson joined Wright. As the men explored, they also added one of Wright’s mentors, Joseph Scattergood Dixon. Dixon was older than Wright by 20 years, but very much shared the young men’s enthusiasm.

Focus on Wildlife

As the men traveled through the park week after week, one of the issues they noticed was that no thought was being given to the animals that came and went through the park. There was wildlife, of course, but grazing animals were permitted within the park as well. When the park boundaries were demarcated, this arrangement was made to appease farmers and ranchers.

There were also species that needed protection. Elk had long been native to the Yosemite area but were nearly wiped out by hunting. Bison, too, were also being decimated.

The Importance of Birds

Since his youth, George Wright took a special interest in birds. He tracked them as carefully as he did wildlife. Wright took particular interest in the Trumpeter swan, which he referred to as “the greatest of American waterfowl.”  

The magnificent birds used to range throughout North America, but by the 1920s, Wright saw that very few pairs survived. Habitat destruction, predatory animals stealing eggs, and hunters turned this magnificent bird into an almost mythical creature.

Tourists Brought Changes

While the point of preserving the parks was for the American people, the arrival of tourists changed the atmosphere of the parks. As travelers and campers came through to see the natural wonders of each park, they brought with them food and the resulting garbage.

Bears were particularly likely to switch to eating garbage rather than looking for their own food. Because the bears were a particularly popular attraction, the rangers initially encouraged the spectacle.

At several parks, “bear feeding stations” were built next to the garbage dumps. Tourists could watch from fenced off space nearby. That became a sore point in park management. As amusing as the bears were, it was also dangerous. In some parks, the bears became aggressive as the garbage trucks arrived. Sometimes, the men couldn’t even unload their haul as it wasn’t safe to get out of the trucks.

Other Modifications for Tourists

Rangers in some parks also did what they could to encourage what they knew tourists liked. To favor fishermen, rangers sometimes killed off birds that swooped in and ate the fish. They removed other predators in parks as well.

What’s more, just as today, many tourists lacked good sense. Taunting the bears or trying to come close for a photograph often had very poor results. Bears were also smart enough to know that if people were arriving at the park, they were likely bringing food. Many photographs of what the rangers called the “bear hold-up” position, with a bear or two standing in front of a car with front paws on the hood.

Of course, for people who overnighted in the park, bears quickly found out how to break into the cars for whatever smelled tantalizing

Undertaking a Wildlife Study

As Wright and his team studied what was happening, they saw many solutions but knew they needed statistics to convince park administrators of the need for change. Wright’s plan involved a three-year study surveying wildlife in several of the western parks. He put the finishing touches on his plan in early 1929.

Because he wanted to move forward without too much bureaucracy, he offered to fund the first two years of the study (paying the team and covering expenses). He requested that the government then be ready to absorb the third year of the study so that they would have ownership of the project when it was completed.

In the spring of 1929, Wright deposited money for the survey and expedition. This was an opportune step in light of the Depression that was to come.

Wright’s funding offer and the timing of it was particularly fortuitous. With the stock market crash of October 1929, the survey would have screeched to a halt had it been a government project.

Called to the Everglades

While the survey was Wright’s top priority, he still had responsibilities to the park administration. In 1930, Wright was summoned to visit the Everglades in Florida. The government was wrestling with what could be done there. On one of the trips, Wright contracted malaria.

As he and Ben Thompson drove across the South on their way back to Yosemite, Thompson saw that Wright was extraordinarily ill. When the men drove into Phoenix, Thompson insisted they stop at the hospital so Wright could be seen by a doctor.

Wright was hospitalized immediately. When it became clear that Wright would not be released soon, Thompson agreed to Wright’s request to summon family and friends. Wright was returning home to marry a student met at Berkeley, Bernice Ray.

When the group arrived, the decision was quickly made to hold the wedding at Wright’s bedside at the hospital. Bee and George eventually moved to a Phoenix hotel and remained until George was healthy enough to travel.

Balance Between Humans and Park Needs and Wildlife

George Wright understood that the purpose of his study was to advise on ways to balance the needs of wildlife and tourists within the confines of the national parks. His first-of-a-kind survey resulted in two landmark reports.

While there were many recommendations, some of the most notable were urging the Park Service to change ingrained practices such as feeding bears at dumps and killing predators. The parks would fare better if the natural world was respected. If the land and the wildlife were not appreciated, there would eventually be no natural parks at all.

Wright Promoted to Administration Job in D.C.

Wright’s completion of Fauna 1 # (as the first study was called, short for Fauna of the National Parks of the United States: A Preliminary Survey of Faunal Relations in National Parks) continued to elevate Wright’s status within the government. Soon he was promoted and transferred with his family to Washington, D.C. to work in administration. From this position, he had more authority to place wildlife specialists in more of the parks.

International Boundaries Using Parks

The National Park Service was growing during this time. Part of the new focus was a country-wide effort to set aside parks near country boundaries. Wright was appointed by the president to be part of the commission to discuss with Mexico the policies and plans of international parks.

In 1936, a conference was held near what would eventually become Big Bend Park along the Rio Grande in southern Texas.  As the conference concluded, several of the men, including Wright, planned to continue on to visit Santa Elena Canyon and the Hatchet Mountains in western New Mexico.

Wright and his colleague Roger Toll were in one car. The roads in the area were very rough. As they drove along, an oncoming car blew a tire and veered into the car in which Wright and Toll were riding. Roger Toll was killed on impact. George Wright died several hours later at the hospital.

Wright left behind his wife Bee and two young daughters. The family of three left Washington, D.C. and returned to California, settling in San Francisco. Bee arranged for George’s ashes to be scattered over Aunt Cordelia’s grave.

The Importance of Science-based Managment in the Parks

Pamela Wright Lloyd was very young when her father died, but she got to know him through his writing. On the occasion of the 20^th anniversary following his death, she extracted thoughts from her father’s book Fauna. In a presentation, she summed up part of how he felt about the importance of science-based management of the parks:

“Fifty years from now we shall still be wrestling with the problems of joint occupation of national parks by men and mammals, but it is reasonable to predict that we shall have mastered some of the simplest maladjustments. It is far better to pursue such a course though success be but partial than to relax in despair and allow the destructive forces to operate unchecked.”

George Meléndez Wright’s Legacy

Though his career was all too brief, Wright left a legacy of scientific wildlife and resource management for the Park Service. Unfortunately, the timing (the Depression and World War II) prevented others from pursuing Wright’s lead. But Wright set out many jigsaw puzzle pieces that scientists, land managers, and biologists began to assemble during the late 1960s.

By then, they knew the urgency was real.

***

I am indebted to author Jerry Emory for his detailed biography of George Wright. It was published by the University of Chicago Press in 2023: George Meléndez Wright: The Fight for Wildlife and Wilderness in the National Parks.

There is also a George Wright Society: https://www.georgewrightsociety.org/

Marge Villa became one of eleven Latina ball players to be selected for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League begun by Philip Wrigley in 1943. In that era, the women needed to be skilled ball players, but skin color mattered. The Latinas who qualified were light-skinned and could pass for white. 

Villa made the most of her time in the league. She was a utility player for the Kenosha (Wisconsin) Comets and was chosen as team captain for several of the years she was there.

After she left the league in 1950, she took up golf. By 1955, her name was appearing in newspapers mentioning her winning golf scores.

Early Life

Marge Villa was born in Montebello, California, in 1924.  As a child, she played ball with her younger brother and other children in town. Many other Mexican American families lived near the Villas. Many worked on farms or in factories during the week. Sunday was a day when the community attended church and then gathered with neighbors. Residents of all ages played baseball, and it is likely that Marge’s skills grew from those games.

The Garvey Stars was a girls team in East Los Angeles. By the age of 13, Marge Villa was playing regularly for them. While many families discouraged sports for their daughters, the Villas enjoyed Marge’s interest.  This added to Marge’s love of the game.

Recruited from the Garvey Stars

After a season with the Garvey Stars, Marge Villa was spotted by a scout for the semiprofessional Lionettes that played in Orange County, California. The Lionettes won the Southern California girls’ championship during Marge’s first years with the team. This brought her to the attention of the baseball league that was being formed by Philip Wrigley in Chicago.

One of the coaches flagged her to try out for the Chicago league—the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.  She qualified and was placed on the Kenosha Comets. Girls were paid well for the weeks of play ($45-$85 per week during the season). For more information about the league, read All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.

Playing for the Comets

Villa played for the Comets for five years. She could handle almost any position, so she moved from catcher to base play, and sometimes played in the outfield. She was also a strong pitcher.

Marge Villa made a name for herself during her first year with the Comets. On June 9, 1946, she drove in nine runs and collected eleven total bases, setting two single-game league records that were never surpassed.

By 1950, she had a batting average of .256 and set records for the most runs batted in in a single game.

She was also a true team player. She was always ready to help other players with mastery of any ball skills.

Baseball Travel Not Easy

Like the men, the women playing professional baseball found it wasn’t an easy life.  Her story is told in an exhibit at the Smithsonian, where her Garvey Stars uniform is on display.  She told a representative of the Smithsonian, “It was pretty hard to put in the bus rides and the daily practices and stuff like that. …It was almost a 16-hour job for us by the time we went to practice, and then we went home and rested a while. Then we’d come back and sometimes played a double header.”   

International Travel

In 1947, the AAGPBL put together exhibition teams that traveled to promote women’s baseball. Villa was part of this group. Cuba was a logical place to visit, as Cubans are very enthusiastic about the game.  Marge was the only player who spoke Spanish, so she stepped forward to be translator. Villa was also very charismatic, so people loved her.

In 1948 and 1949, she was again invited to join the league for postseason tours. This time they traveled across the Caribbean and South America.

Villa often talked about how lucky she and the team were to get to see the world.

After the League

In 1950, Marge Villa returned to California. The league was not what it was when she began, and for her, it was time to move on with her life. 

When her father reminded her that she needed “to do something,” she agreed and took up golf. By 1955, her name was appearing in golf columns as a champion player.

And it was a blind date for a golf game that introduced her to her future husband. Someone asked her to take Daniel Cryan out on the golf course.

They were married in 1954.

Golf Became Her Passion

She and Daniel started a family, and Marge was at every baseball game as a fan and often as coach. This pattern continued with her grandchildren. She loved it.

But she didn’t neglect her golf game. Each year she played in an annual tournament. For 25 years, she was uncontested winner. Her daughter told the Smithsonian that she didn’t know why the other women played. It was clear that Marge Villa would likely be the winner.

Hollywood

When producer Penny Marshall opted to make A League of Their Own, a movie about the All American Girls Professional Baseball League, Marge Villa was hired as a technical consultant.  Her baseball skills were still strong, and she was often called over to help the actors with their pitching or batting so that the movie would be realistic.

Marge Villa is a woman who made the most of her skills and opportunities, and she seems to have loved every moment of it.

The Mexican influence on popular American cuisine dates to the 1920s and ‘30s. One of the leaders in introducing these recipes to the public was Elena Zelayeta (1898-1974), a young Mexican woman who became a great cook. During the Depression of the 1930s, she supported her family by running a small restaurant in San Francisco.

Zelayeta suffered scarlet fever as a baby and had limited vision in one eye. While running the restaurant she lost vision in the other eye, becoming blind.  This was a definite setback, but eventually Zelayeta overcame her frustration and her terror of living without sight. She went on to write successful cookbooks, become a consultant to major national food companies, and receive positive acclaim from such luminaries as James Beard and the New York Times food critic Craig Claiborne. 

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Early Life

Elena Zelayeta was born in 1898 in Mexico City.  Her parents were both Spanish and emigrated to Mexico before starting their family. Her father hoped to go to America but stayed in Mexico because of language familiarity. The couple settled in a mining town near Mexico City, El Mineral del Oro, where they opened a restaurant. As the success of the restaurant grew, they added an inn to their property. Elena and her five siblings were born there.

Life in Mexico was not always comfortable. Though Mexico won independence from Spain in 1821, the family found themselves treated as outsiders. On Independence Day, it was not unusual for Mexican natives to parade through town shouting “Down with Spaniards.” Elena’s father kept hoping there would be a way to go to the United States where he felt there would be more opportunity.

When Elena was 11 (1910), her father leased the restaurant and inn for a brief time so he could take his family to visit America. They traveled by ship to San Francisco. In the midst of their visit, the Mexican Revolution broke out. As Elena’s father nervously worried about things at home, they soon received word that all they had in Mineral del’Oro was destroyed. There was nothing to go back for.

Starting Out in America

Elena’s parents sold her mother’s jewelry to cover their expenses, and they enrolled their children in public school in San Francisco. Elena was the only family member who spoke English, so she became the family translator. This meant that whenever her father needed to go job hunting, he pulled Elena out of school so she could accompany him to translate.  

Over time, her father picked up regular work, and the family settled in. Their father was very strict with his daughters about dating. Generally, he preferred they go out with a group, and he let them know that he wanted them to marry Americans—not Spaniards or Mexicans. 

Despite that, Elena fell in love with Lorenzo Zelayeta, a structural engineer for the Bell Company, she and Loren kept their dating a secret as Elena knew her father would be upset about Loren’s Mexican heritage.

Marriage Anyway

But Lorenzo Zelayeta was doing well at work and was placed on a big job that would take him away from San Francisco for several months. He and Elena were determined to marry before he left the following week. In a single day, they shared the news with the family and held a simple wedding.

As a young wife, Elena set about learning to cook and be a good homemaker. But since she had attended a business school after high school, she had other skills. Her husband was away and there were not yet any children. When she was offered a secretarial job at the California Arms Company (a munitions company), she accepted.

She did well in her job, and when her bosses discovered she was bilingual, the company started using her to travel to Mexico to actually negotiate arms deals—an extremely dangerous job.

The 1930s and the Depression

But as the country moved into the early 1930s, businesses had to lay off workers, and both Elena and Loren were let go from their jobs. By this time, they were parents of a young boy, Larry, who was born in 1926. 

They needed to figure out a way to live and to feed themselves. Most families were using a barter method to get what they needed, so when Elena thought about the skills she had, she realized she could prepare meals to trade for other things they needed.

During the Depression, bartering was not just one-on-one. People became skilled at bartering among groups so that everyone could give something but trade for what they really needed.

As Elena worked in her home kitchen preparing meals they could use in trade, she began to dream of starting a small restaurant in their apartment. Mexican food was not yet popular in the United States, but if they could attract enough of their friends and friends’ friends as customers, they would be fine.

Opens Restaurant in Apartment

Elena pulled everything together and opened her restaurant. Meals were well-priced but could also be paid for by barter. They soon found that their neighbors of other ethnicities were attracted to a place where they could barter for a meal, have great food, and feel warmly welcomed.

As the business grew, Elena shopped for a bigger apartment, finally settling on a seven-room apartment on the upper floor of an apartment building in the northern section of San Francisco. The family set aside 4 rooms for dining, and guests willingly climbed the staircase to what became known as Elena’s Mexican Village restaurant.

Elena remembered names and faces and birthdays, and people loved coming. To keep the restaurant going, Elena put in very long hours both in the kitchen and in minding the books.

And there was more news… she was pregnant with their second child. Son Larry was 8 at the time.

Trouble with Vision

But Elena’s eyes were giving her trouble. The cataract that had clouded her vision since infancy was getting worse, and she started having difficulty with the other eye. She told herself it was temporary, but as she began bumping into things and having trouble identifying guests, Loren asked about it. After Elena explained, Loren immediately set up an appointment with an ophthalmologist.

Unfortunately, the ophthalmologist told them there was nothing to be done. The retina in her better eye had detached. At that time, they had no guarantee of a way to fix it. (Later she consulted a doctor who felt there might be a way to improve her situation through surgery, but it failed.)

Sadness Led to Isolation

Elena was 7 months pregnant and fell into a dark depression. How could she run her restaurant? How could she take care of Larry and a new baby? She closed herself off in her bedroom and remained alone as much as she could. When she attempted suicide, she was stopped by Loren, but she saw no way for things to get better.

After the baby was born, Elena turned full care of Billy over to a helper. Larry often was the one assigned to bring his mother meals from the restaurant.

Loren and the cooks Elena hired to help when she was running the kitchen tried to keep the business going, but it wasn’t the same without Elena there to welcome guests, remember birthdays, and make the diners feel very much at home.

Crisis with Billy

Elena relied on hired help to take care of Larry and Billy. At one point, the family hired an older woman who was hard of hearing. One day Elena realized it was too quiet. Larry was at school, but she heard nothing from the sitter or from Billy. She left her room, feeling her way around the house, calling to the sitter.

There was no response from the woman, but she did find Billy. He was sitting on the floor in the kitchen with his hand in a container of lye. Lye in the mouth of a one-year-old would certainly have burned his throat and very likely killed him.

This was the moment when Elena realized everything had to change.

She fired the woman who was supposed to have been watching her children and called her mother for some temporary help. From there, she began figuring out how she could re-enter her life.

Back in the Kitchen

By this time, the restaurant had closed. Without Elena’s charm, diners quit coming.  No money was coming in, so the family moved in with Loren’s mother.

Slowly, Elena taught herself to cook using her other senses. She judged heat from the burners by smell, and measured ingredients by feel. She needed a way to time her cooking and realized that the radio programs she enjoyed were all 15 minutes long. This became her way of timing what she cooked.

Her mother visited and helped her organize things so that Elena could find what she needed, Loren and Larry (and Billy when he grew older) were there when she needed to leave the house.

As the economy improved in the late 1930s, Loren Zelayeta was re-hired as a structural engineer by the West Coast Bell Laboratories.  And in 1944, Elena received a phone call from the San Francisco Center for the Blind. The organization wanted to hire her to teach cooking to other people with low vision or no sight.

Elena was concerned. She had never taught nor spoken before groups, but she took on the challenge. She wanted to share with others what she learned on her own. One of her good friends helped her think through the process and transported her and all her equipment to the Center’s offices.

The class was a wonderful success.

In Demand

As word spread that a woman who was blind was available to teach others to cook, Zelayeta began to be hired to teach and to lecture. Over time she became friendly with a woman, Katherine Kerry, who was to change Elena’s life. Kerry was a member of a group of home economists, and she invited Elena to come and visit the group and tell her story.

The other women loved all that they learned from Elena. While chatting with her, one of the women brought up how much she would benefit by having a seeing eye dog.

Zelayeta agreed, but she announced that the dogs were expensive. She would not have a dog until she could afford to buy it for herself. This gave the group a mission: If Elena Zelayeta would write a cookbook containing recipes for Mexican food, the California home economists would help sell it.

First Cookbook

Elena Zelayeta saw that this was a path forward. A friend pitched in to actually write down the recipes as Elena described them, and soon they had enough material for a 127-page recipe book. Recipes were carefully tested by the group and soon it was published.

After publication of Elena’s Famous Mexican and Spanish Recipes, the home economists continued their work. Various groups invited Elena to speak, and newsletters around the state promoted the cookbook. The first printing sold out within a single month.

Guide Dog

As Elena Zelayeta was hired for more speeches and sold more cookbooks, she had enough money for a guide dog. She and a friend took the train to Los Angeles, where Elena had made arrangements for a dog through the Guide Dog Foundation of Los Angeles.

After she was paired with her dog, which she named Chulita (“chula” means loved one), she remained on the campus in Los Angeles for the next two weeks so she and Chulita could learn to work together.

More to Overcome

Loren continued his work as an engineer, but the family had moved out of the center of San Francisco. This meant that Loren and a co-worker made a relatively long commute to and from the job. One evening near Thanksgiving, Loren did not arrive home on time. 

Elena was distressed and made frantic calls to the co-worker’s family, the hospital, and the state patrol. She was finally told that Loren’s car had been flipped over by a bus in a terrible accident. The friend lived, but Loren died. 

She and Billy, now 11, had to find a new way forward.

Summer Camp

Fortunately, Elena was known on the speaking circuit, and that summer she received a call from a government representative working for the state of Montana. The state was setting up a summer camp for people who were blind or had low vision. They wanted Elena to come and teach cooking. Billy, age 11, could come along, as could Chulita.

As she taught her class, the administrators saw how much she had to offer and convinced her to add a “lessons in living” class for the campers. She saw how helpful her suggestions could be. Within a couple of years she wrote a book on the topic.

Local Television Show

As she returned home after working at the camp, she was very much in demand. She had another cookbook out, and groups invited her for speeches and book signings.

In 1950, she was given a contract for a local television show.  A friend helped her organize and set up her kitchen at the studio.

The production staff worked with her so that Elena felt comfortable, and together they all agreed on a system to help Elena with camera angles. She had strings tied to each ankle so that someone could pull gently to let her know which camera was on at what time. 

Gained Prominence

As time progressed, Zelayeta gained national prominence. She became a consultant for Lawry’s seasoning salt and Quaker Oats. Famous cookbook author James Beard recommended her as a consultant for a new Mexican restaurant being planned for the Time Life Building in Rockefeller Center, La Fonda del Sol.

Frozen Food Market

When she returned home to California, friends had new ideas for her: Frozen foods were becoming popular. They wanted Elena to package and sell frozen versions of her enchiladas, tortillas, tacos, meatballs, and her very popular cocktail snack, tamalitos (small tamales).

Larry (and eventually Billy) joined her in the business. Larry was a natural salesman, and he went to work setting up a factory and purchasing machines that could help with some of the packaging. 

The business was doing well selling to small specialty shops. As word spread in the food industry that a small California company was selling frozen Mexican food and succeeding, larger companies stepped into the market. Their products may not have been as good, but they could entice stores by offering free freezer cases to groceries who bought from them.

Elena’s Food Specialties stayed in business selling to the local market, but it was never the financial success the family hoped.

Elena Zelayeta–Nationally Known

In the meantime, she was achieving acclaim. In 1953, June Nickerson of the New York Times described Elena Zelayata as “the West Coast dining authority.”

By 1958, food critic and editor Craig Claiborne at The New York Times wrote that “Elena’s Secrets of Mexican Cooking” was the definitive volume on the subject.

And of course, well-loved American chef James Beard valued her highly and sent jobs her way.

Long Life

Elena Zelayeta lived until the age of 75, dying in March of 1974. Larry married and had one daughter who was named Elena after his mother. 

On the cover of one of her books, the publishing company ran a tag line: “She was unable to see with her eyes but learned to see with her heart.”

Elena Zelayeta sometimes had to pause when the challenges became too severe. But she always found her way forward again.

She closes her first book with this:

May your tables be filled with bounty, your days with sunshine, your hearts with joy.

Elena Zelayeta, 1944

During World War II, the country needed citizen support at home and abroad for all that needed to be done to fight a war. Tucson, Arizona, was just one of a multitude of communities that stepped forward to do their part.

Men enlisted in major numbers, leaving many jobs unfilled. This paved the way for women to enter into the workforce in great numbers. Factories needed help building everything from bombs to airplanes, trucks and automobiles.

In Tucson, the Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation had jobs open for all who could be trained to work on bombers. The Vultee plant in Tucson was in charge of modification of the airplanes—some bombers required changes for flying in different climates; all bombers needed their offense and defense systems strengthened and brought up to date.

Men left farming jobs open, too. Women stepped in to keep up with growing everything from fruits, vegetables, and grains to cotton. Cotton was vital for making uniforms, tents, and parachutes. In addition to extra people working in at the farms, volunteers from the surrounding area arrived to pick the cotton in the fields.

Community Life Changes

Communities also suffered from the changes. The government stressed conservation of food, encouraged more home gardening, and asked that citizens collect and return to the government scrap metal, nylon, and fats and grease. (Fats and grease could be converted into glycerin for making explosives.)

As women took jobs, other women opened day care centers for their children. Local groups all over the country also sold war bonds to raise money for the cause.

It was a worrisome time. Loved ones were leaving for destinations unknown, with families fearing they might not come back. The war no longer seemed faraway. Those at home knew that keeping up morale would help townspeople as well as those serving overseas.

Arizonans Pitched In

In the 1940s, Arizona’s population was about 30 percent Hispanic. Despite many of them already being U.S. citizens, these families faced discrimination in school and in some public places. (See Mendez v. Westminster.)  But the men were being drafted, and those at home put insults behind them and volunteered to do their part to help the country that was their home.

In Tucson, Arizona, a group calling themselves the Association of Hispanic Mothers and Wives (also called Spanish-American Mothers and Wives) organized in 1944 to support the war effort. Their newsletter, Chatter (saved by the Arizona Historical Society), was created to provide news for those at home about the men and women serving overseas. They also provided information that would have been of interest to the soldiers.

The newsletter was published every second and fourth Sunday. The first issue was on Father’s Day 1944: “We the Spanish-American Mothers and Wives Association, humbly dedicate this, our first issue of CHATTER. To the valiant Fathers who are fighting to preserve our democracy.”

Revenue from the paper was added to a fund to create recreation center for Spanish-American soldiers from Tucson.

News for the Families

The newsletter brought information on the Tucson soldiers overseas, including those due home on furlough. Promotions and recognitions are listed, and so are those “wounded in action” and “missing in action.” From Chatter, it is clear that many women from Tucson also signed up. Under Enlistments, we read of Pvt. Esther Dorame and Victoria Lopez and Angel Flores are all mentioned for signing up for the Women’s Army Corps.

The Robles family of Tucson would have loved this report: “A brother and sister reunion occurred recently in the southwest Pacific area—Pfc. Lucy Robles and Pvt. Salvador Robles of Tucson, after the landing of the first WAC group to be assigned to the sector.” The meeting was arranged by the Red Cross. A third brother was also fighting in the area but could not be present for the get-together.

In the newsletter of June 25, 1944, it was reported that PFC Abraham Mendoza “is now in Iran with the railway shop battalion, Abe sent us a picture of him sitting on a camel—he says he still prefers riding down Myers St. in an old broken down jalopy with a bottle of tequila by his side.”

News for the Soldiers as Well

Whether there was a formal way of sending newsletters to hometown men and women overseas, or whether families themselves sent the newsletters on, the news coverage makes it clear that those serving were among the intended readers.

In one of the early issues there is a special note to Staff Sergeant William Rivera “somewhere in New Guinea:” “Your boy was two years old July 22, and he is quite a young man. Congratulations, and may you soon come back to him.”

There was also encouragement for voting by those overseas. Chatter mentioned that of the 600 military ballots mailed out by the county recorder, 128 had been returned, 90 from the camps in the U.S. and 38 from foreign points. “COME ON KIDS, KEEP ‘EM COMING!”

Town Updates

And of course, everyone wondered about football. Would there be college games in 1944? Chatter reporters contacted the Director of Athletics at the University of Arizona. He verified that for 1944 there were not expected to be any college athletics.

The newsletter covered town news ranging from a fire at the Pekin Café to landscaping improvements around town. They also notified soldiers that when they were home, there would be free swimming for them at a community pool on Monday and Tuesday. Swimming access for “colored” soldiers would be at a different location (a reminder to readers today that it was the Jim Crow era).

Pop Culture from Home

Perhaps to make those stationed overseas feel less homesick, the newsletter concluded with a page or two dedicated to entertainment. Lists of the top hit parade songs for recent weeks as well as a “jokes” section were included in each newsletter. There was light poetry:

“The saddest words of tongue or pen,

Perhaps may be “It might have been,

But sweetest words we know, by heck

Are simply these: ‘Enclosed find check.’”

And this from American actress Benay Venuta: “Hitler thought he was a man of steel but we proved he was just scrap iron.”

D-Day in Tucson

According to Chatter, Tucson took the news of the long-awaited invasion of Normandy “sitting down” and with no display of hysteria or outward excitement. Chatter reported on the happenings. The down town district was deserted as the first news come over the radio, and no whistles or sirens were sounded.

Citizens joined the nation-wide prayer for the fighting men. Most churches held services. Special lunch hour prayers were held at Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Plant and a special bond booth set up sold more than $3000 worth that morning.

People Come Together

In times of national emergency, Americans can generally trust that people of all backgrounds will come together.  The Hispanic Women of Tucson displayed this perfectly during World War II.

If you know of people who lived in Tucson during this era and have information to add, please get in touch: kate@americacomesalive.com

To read about Latina women who took jobs during World War II, click here.