Jovita Idar in studio portrait by Garcia Studio. ca 1905. 084-0596, General Photograph Collection, UTSA Special Collections.
Jovita Idar was born on September 7, 1885, in Laredo, Texas. The daughter of a newspaper editor and a civil rights advocate, Idar was exposed to journalism and political activism at a very young age.
Her ideas and practices were ahead of her time. She made it her mission to pursue civil rights for Mexican-Americans and believed education was the foundation for a better future. Idar wrote many news articles in various publications speaking out about racism and supporting the revolution in Mexico.
Woman must always seek to acquire useful and beneficial knowledge, for in modern times, she has broad horizons.Jovita Idar
In 1911, she joined the First Mexicanist Congress in Laredo and organized Mexican-American activists. She and other women formed La Liga Femenil Mexicanista, or the League of Mexican Women, a political and charitable organization that sought to empower Mexican-American women. Idar was chosen as its first president.
Idar died in San Antonio, Texas on June 15, 1946. Throughout her life, she remained on the front lines of change and advocated fiercely for the rights of women and Mexican-Americans.
Images from UTSA Libraries Special Collections
Jovita IdarEmployees in print shop of El Progreso newspaper. Jovita Idar is on the right. 1914. 084-0592, General Photograph Collection, UTSA Special Collections.
Jovita Idar and members of Union of Stone Mason and Bricklayers, Laredo, Texas, ca. 1915Photograph shows members of the Union of Stone Masons and Bricklayers (Union Local de Albaniles). On the platform are (l. to r.): Jovita Idar, Professor Simon Dominguez, and his daughter. circa 1915. 084-0599, General Photograph Collection, UTSA Special Collections.
Leonor Villegas de Magnon and Jovita IdarTreating a person wounded during the Mexican Revolution. 1913-03-17. 084-0597, General Photograph Collection, UTSA Special Collections.
Teacher's Certificate for Jovita Idar1903-6-20. 100-0633, General Photograph Collection, UTSA Special Collections.
Jovita Idar on postcard calendar1911. 100-0634, General Photograph Collection, UTSA Special Collections.
Jovita IdarWedding portrait of Bartolo Juarez and Jovita Idar. 100-0640, General Photograph Collection, UTSA Special Collections.
Resources
About Jovita Idar
- Jovita Idar: Mexican American Activist and Journalist
PBS Documentary – American Masters
Watch Video ‣ - Jovita Idar (1885- 1946) by Kerri Lee Alexander
National Women’s History Museum
Visit Website » - Jovita Idar Historical Marker
Laredo in Webb County, Texas
Visit Website »
About the Jovita Idar Quarter
- 2023 American Women Quarters Program – Jovita Idar
United States Mint
Watch Video ‣
- Jovita Idar Quarter
United States Mint
Visit Website »
Resources to Learn More
- Scott Huddleston, “South Texas activist Jovita Idar, who stood up to the Texas Rangers, to be featured on U.S. quarter,” San Antonio Express-News, June 28, 2023.
Read Article » - Sam Hodges, “Spotlight shines on Jovita Idar, Methodist reformer,” UMNews, Oct. 4, 2022.
Read Article » - Michael Agresta, “Forgotten for Over a Century, Border Hero Jovita Idar is Rediscovered by Her Hometown of Laredo,” Texas Observer, February 1, 2021.
Read Article » - Jennifer Medina, “Overlooked No More: Jovita Idar, Who Promoted Rights of Mexican Americans and Women,” New York Times, published Aug. 7, 2020, updated Aug. 19, 2020.
Read Article » - Marilyn La Jeunesse, “Who was Jovita Idar, the Radical Muckraking Mexican-American Journalist?,” Teen Vogue, October 12, 2018.
Read Article » - Carmina Danini, “1900s journalist and educator Jovita Idar championed rights of Mexican Americans,” San Antonio Express-News, December 25, 2017.
Read Article » - González, Gabriela. Redeeming La Raza: Transborder Modernity, Race, Respectability, and Right. New York: Oxford University Press, 2018.
Buy the Book » - González, Gabriela. “Jovita Idar: The Ideological Origins of a Transnational Advocate for La Raza.” In Texas Women: Their Histories, Their Lives, edited by Elizabeth Hayes Turner, Stephanie Cole, and Rebecca Sharpless. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2015.
Read the Book Chapter » - González, Gabriela. “Humanizing La Raza: The Activist Journalism of the Idar Family in Early Twentieth-Century Texas.” In Reverberations of Racial Violence: Critical Reflections on the History of the Border, edited by Sonia Hernández and John Morán González. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2021.
Read the Book Chapter »
