Throughout the twentieth century, Mexican Americans and Chicanos/as fought tirelessly for civil rights, often in overlooked corners of the nation. An initial review of the literature revealed the following list of potential historic sites where civil rights battles took place by Mexican Americans/ Chicanos/as. This list is by no means conclusive. Further research may still provide additional important locations of Mexican American/ Chicano/a activism. Each site below represents not just a physical location, but a moment when people chose bravery over fear and hope over resignation.
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Tierra Amarilla Courthouse
County Courthouse in Tierra Amarilla, New Mexico. Reies López Tijerina, an early Chicano leader and his followers occupied the county courthouse in 1966 and performed a citizen’s arrest of the local district attorney for the loss of land grants after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. His organization was called the Alianza Federal de Mercedes. Their stand echoed the pain of generations and ignited a new wave of Chicano/a activism.
- Garfield, Roosevelt, Wilson, Belmont, and Lincoln High Schools in East Los Angeles. In the late 1960s, Chicano/a students participated in walkouts, speeches, picketing, and sit-ins to protest a list of demands that included the teaching of Mexican history, Mexican and Mexican American Literature, more Mexican American teachers and administrators, better school facilities and equipment, and college preparation classes rather than industrial arts. Their courage reshaped public education across the Southwest.
Marchers at Laguna Park, August 29, 1970
- Laguna Park in East Los Angeles. During the latter part of August 1970, a group called the National Chicano Moratorium Committee planned a march of between fifteen to twenty thousand through the streets of East Los Angeles to protest the Vietnam War and the disproportionately high death and casualty rate of Mexican American soldiers. The sheriff opted to attack the crowd with billy clubs and tear gas. A wild melee ensued that resulted in the loss of property and three were killed, including Mexican American journalist Rubén Salazar. His loss became a symbol of the struggle for justice.
Crystal City High School Walkout, Dec. 9, 1969
- Crystal City High School in Crystal City, Texas. On December 9, 1969, Mexican American students staged a walkout to protest the rules for selecting the homecoming queen, which was adversely anti-Mexican American. Their walkout grew into a broader movement for representation and equality in their schools.
- Lanier High School in San Antonio, Texas. In the 1960s, Mexican American students and their parents fought to include chemistry, physics, algebra, trigonometry, calculus, and computer programming in the curriculum, so their children could pursue college dreams long denied to them
- Edgewood High School in San Antonio, Texas. In the 1960s, Mexican American students demanded better qualified teachers and curriculum reforms, laying the groundwork for future educational equity battles.
- Burbank High School in San Antonio, Texas. In the spring of 1968, the Mexican American Youth Organization (MAYO) conducted and supported a student revolt advocating curriculum changes to enable Mexican American students to be better prepared to attend college.
- East Los Angeles Free Clinic. The concept of a free compassionate, community-centered healthcare clinic developed as a result of the Brown Beret’s initiative to have a flexible alternative to the needs of the community and to those who had long been overlooked.
Brown Berets
- Brown Beret Headquarters in Los Angeles. Though its exact address is uncertain, this boarded-up building once pulsed with revolutionary energy, its windows plastered with posters calling for justice was located on Atlantic Blvd.
- La Piranya in East Los Angeles. This coffee house served as an office and meeting hall for the Young Chicano/a Youths for Community Action, later changed to Brown Berets. Among the eminent leaders who attended were Reies López Tijerina, César Chávez and black militants like H. Rap Brown, Stokely Carmichael, and Ron Karenga.
- A Denver High School in Denver, Colorado. I do not know the name, but in the 1960s, Mexican American students protested for a teacher to be transferred for making a racial slur. The students were prohibited from meeting with the school principal by police officers who then proceeded to beat, maced, and tear-gassed them and their parents. Their bravery highlighted the widespread discrimination Mexican Americans faced far beyond the Southwest.
- San Joaquín Valley Town of Delano in California. I do not know if the building still exists, but César Chávez opened the headquarters of the National Farm Workers Association in this building in the town of Delano, California, sparking a movement that transformed labor rights nationwide.
- 1705 Delgado Street in San Antonio, Texas. This was the home of Don Eleuterio Escobar, which he also used as his headquarters to launch the Liga Pro-Defensa Escolar (School Improvement League) to fight deplorable classroom and playground conditions and discrimination against Mexican American students in San Antonio’s West Side during the 1930s through the 1950s.
- Sacred Heart Catholic Church in El Paso, Texas. In 1967, Dr. Ernesto Galarza organized and presided at a protest conference that included many Chicano/a leaders. The main issue focused on the Vietnam War and the disproportion number of deaths and wounded among Mexican Americans.
First LULAC Convention, 1929
- John F. Kennedy High School in San Antonio, Texas. On January 6, 1968, approximately 1,500 students and activists met for a follow-up conference of La Raza Unida. Anglos and African Americans also attended as well as leaders and members from LULAC and from the Mexican American Youth Organization (MAYO). Willie Velásquez of MAYO was the chairman and Dr. Ernesto Galarza gave the keynote address in Spanish. The sessions included politics, education, community organizing, civil rights issues, the War on Poverty, and Mexican American identity. State Senator Joe Bernal gave the closing remarks.
- Obrero Hall in Corpus Christi, Texas. This was the historic place where the three organizations; namely, the Order of the Sons of America, the Order of the Knights of America, and the League of Latin American Citizens met on February 17, 1929, to merge into one group called the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). I do not even know if this building is still standing.
- Allende Hall in Corpus Christi, Texas. This was the historic place where LULAC met on Saturday, May 18, and Sunday, May 19, 1929, to draft its constitution and bylaws. Again, I do not even know if this building is still standing.
- Alice High School in Alice, Texas. Alonso S. Perales attended and graduated from this public high school, who would become a towering figure in Mexican American civil rights.
- Nasser Building in McAllen, Texas. In 1927, this was the site where Attorney Alonso S. Perales had his law office with J. T. Canales and McKay. Attorney Canales, from Brownsville, Texas, was another important leader of Mexican American civil rights. And they were defending the rights of Mexican Americans during a time of intense discrimination. I do not know if the edifice is still standing.
- Theodore Roosevelt School in Mission, Texas. On Sunday, March 9, 1952, a massive protest took place that was well attended. Supporters came from the Lower Río Grande Valley, San Antonio, Alice, Corpus Christi, San Angelo, and other cities. At issue was the publication of a controversial pamphlet by Lyle Saunders and Glen W. Leonard and published by the University of Texas at Austin entitled, “The Wetback In The Lower Rio Grande in Texas.” The contents of the study were deemed to be offensive, insulting, and denigrating towards Mexican Americans. Two eminent civil rights leaders, Attorney J.T. Canales and Professor J. Luz Saénz were the main speakers. I do not know if the school still exists.
These sites—some still standing, others lost to time—form a map of resilience. They remind us that progress is never accidental; it is built by people who dare to challenge injustice, who gather in schoolyards, churches, and community halls to demand better for themselves and future generations. As we honor these places, we honor the spirit of a community that refused to be invisible. Their footsteps continue to guide us, urging us to remember, to learn, and to keep pushing forward with the same courage that defined their struggle.
El Profe Quezada
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Copyright by Gilberto Quezada. Photo of LULAC Convention used the “fair use” proviso of the copyright law. All other photos are copyrighted by Barrio Dog Productions Inc.