Articles
Born in Alice in 1898, Alonso Perales became one of Texas's earliest Mexican American lawyers and a leading civil rights voice. After serving in the Army during World War I, he returned to Texas determined to fight discrimination. In 1929, Perales and his colleagues founded the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), one of the nation's largest and most enduring Mexican American civil rights organizations. He authored LULAC's founding documents and served as one of its presidents, championing political equality and economic self-sufficiency. He later held U.S. diplomatic posts in Latin America and the West Indies while continuing to advocate for voting rights, immigration reform, and educational equality in Texas. More»
Portrait of Alonso Perales. Courtesy of Alonso S. Perales Collection, Recovering the U.S. Hispanic Literary Heritage, University of Houston.