Tejano Voices Interviewees - By Region

Cavada, Viviana - Crystal City/Eagle Pass/Kingsville/Victoria (Interview date: 6/29/1998)

Born August 28, 1945, in Victoria, Texas, Ms. Cavada was an activist in the Mexican American Youth Organization (MAYO) and the Raza Unida Party. She served on the Committee for Rural Democracy and was active in the Institute for Educational Development and the Voluntarios de Atzlán.

Diaz de León, Luís - Laredo (Interview date: 9/23/1999)

Born October 10, 1925, in Laredo Texas. Mr. Díaz de Leon was the first Mexican American to organize and establish mobile Migrant Head Start programs in Texas, and he was a Texas Raza Unida Party candidate for the U.S. Senate in 1974. He earned his B. A. from Drake University and his Master of Social Work form Our Lady of the Lake in San Antonio, Texas.

Espinosa, Rudy - Crystal City (Interview date: 10/16/1998)

Mr. Espinosa was born December 1, 1949, in Crystal City, Texas, and is a graduate of Texas A&I University. He has been superintendent of the Crystal City Independent School District since 1981 (excepting a four-year tenure as superintendent of the La Pryor ISD). Espinosa served two terms on the Crystal City city council during the 1970s, held the office of Crystal City mayor for one year, and was elected in 1992 to fill a six-year term on the local community college board.

García, Arcenio - La Salle County/Cotulla (Interview date: 2/19/1997)

Born August 26, 1947, in Defiance, Ohio. Mr. García is county commissioner for La Salle County, Texas. He was Mayor of Cotulla, Texas, in 1972.

González, Angel - Dallas/Austin/Houston/Crystal City (Interview date: 7/1/1996)

Born November 18, 1929, in Edinburg, Texas. One of the first Chicano school superintendents in Texas, Mr. González has held top administrative positions in the public schools in Crystal City, Houston and Dallas, and has worked for the Texas Education Agency. He also worked as the Branch Chief in the Office of Education for Bilingual Education in Washington, D.C. In 1976, he ran for Congress in the Rio Grande Valley. He retired from active employment and resides in Dallas.

Martínez, María - Del Rio/Austin (Interview date: 12/3/1998)

Born in November 1941, Ms. Martínez was the first Mexican American woman to head a political party in Texas. She received her Bachelor's degree in Spanish and History from North Texas State University and her Master's in Education from the University of Texas.

Peña, Roberto - Del Rio (Interview date: 3/1/1998)

Born 1923 in Estación Aldamos, Nuevo León, and raised in Harlingen, Texas, Mr. Peña was the first Mexican American missionary oblate priest in Texas in one hundred years at the time of his appointment. In addition to performing parish work (beginning with his first appointment in 1956) he helped organize Catholic Mexican American priests within the Padres Asociados para los Derechos Religiosos, Educativos, y Sociales (PADRES) organization.

Ramírez, Norma - Zapata County (Interview date: 7/5/1996)

Born on December 6, 1963. County Judge for Zapata County. First elected in 1994 after contesting results of the Primary and Runoff elections. A law school graduate from the Reynaldo Garza School of Law, she worked for Texas Rural Legal Aid and as Court Coordinator of the District Judge in Zapata prior to seeking elective office.

Solís, Eliseo - Lubbock/Crystal City (Interview date: 11/3/1997)

Born in 1946 in Levelland, Texas. Mr. Solís was the first Mexican American elected County Commissioner in Lubbock, in 1984. He was active in the formation of La Raza Unida Party of Texas while a teacher in Crystal City, Texas, during the early 1970s. He earned his B.A. In Latin American Studies from Texas Tech University in 1968, and later his Master's from Wichita State University.

Torres, Gilberto - Uvalde County (Interview date: 12/4/1997)

Born April 24, 1936, in Uvalde County, Texas. Mr. Torres was the first Mexican American elected as county commisoner in Uvalde County. He was a career soldier in the U. S. Army and received serveral awards for his military achievements and service. Mr. Torres served in Operation Desert Storm during the Persian Gulf War in 1991 where he trained military recruits.