Press Release

For Immediate Release, February 17, 2004
Contact: Brent Wilkes, 202-833-6130

Corpus Christi, Texas – 75 years ago, three pioneering Latino civil rights organizations met at Obreros Hall in Corpus Christi, Texas and agreed to merge together to form the League of United Latin American Citizens. Now the oldest, largest and most successful Hispanic organization in the country, the League of United Latin American Citizens is celebrating its many accomplishments this year and launching new initiatives to advance the economic condition, educational attainment, political influence, health and civil rights of the Hispanic population of the United States. 

Since its inception on February 17, 1929, LULAC has championed the cause of Latinos in the United States and Puerto Rico. When LULAC was formed, Hispanics attended segregated schools, restaurants and public facilities; could not serve on juries; were often denied the right to vote; had their lands routinely taken from them; and were the objects of racially motivated lynchings throughout the southwest. 

“When LULAC was created in 1929,” stated Hector M. Flores, LULAC National President “it was a very difficult time for Latinos in the United States. Our first priority was to insist on equal treatment for our people under the law and to help our community to excel in school and in their careers. Seventy-five years later, we can look back and say we have made tremendous progress, but we know there is still much work to be done.” 

LULAC members are celebrating the organization’s accomplishments this year with events and activities held by many of the 700 LULAC councils located throughout the United States. Festivities began with a wreath laying ceremony at the grave of LULAC’s first president, Ben Garza, in Corpus Christi this past Saturday. On March 9, the organization will honor its legislative victories at the LULAC National Legislative Awards Gala in Washington, DC. Other national observances are planned for July 6th through 11th when leaders of the 150,000-member group convene in San Antonio, Texas for the 75th Annual LULAC National Convention and exposition. 

“As LULAC members, we have much to be proud of,” stated Flores. “This year is a time for LULAC to celebrate our tremendous successes, but it is also time for us to focus on the future. Our work will not be done until the Latino community has the same opportunities and responsibilities as the majority community. We will not rest until all Hispanics become full participants in the American Dream.” 

Attached to this release is a list of the major milestones reached by LULAC during its 75 year history. 

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LULAC’s Milestones 

• Feb. 17, 1929: The League of United Latin American Citizens is formed in Corpus Christi, Texas.

• 1930: LULAC desegregates hundreds of public places from barber and beauty shops to swimming pools, restrooms, water drinking fountains, public dinning places and hotels.

• 1931: LULAC organized and provided funding for the Salvatierra versus Del Rio Independent School District case, the first class-action lawsuit against segregated “Mexican Schools.”

• 1936: LULAC pressured the United States Bureau of the Census to reclassify persons of Mexican descent from “Mexican” to “White.” The 1940 census count reflected the change.

• 1940: LULAC plays a major role in filing discrimination cases for the Federal Employment Practices Commission, the first federal civil rights agency.

• 1946: In Santa Ana, California, LULAC files the “Mendez vs. Westminister’ lawsuit” that ends 100 years of segregation in California’s public schools and becomes a key precedent for Brown vs. Board of Education.

• 1948: LULAC attorneys file the “Delgado versus Bastrop Independent School District” lawsuit that ends the segregation of Mexican American children in Texas.

• 1954: LULAC attorneys take the “Hernandez vs. The State of Texas” lawsuit case to the Supreme Court, winning the right for Mexican Americans to serve on juries.

• 1957: LULAC pilots the “Little School of the 400” project, a preschool program dedicated to teaching 400 basic English words to Spanish speaking preschool children. The program becomes the model for Headstart under the Lyndon B. Johnson administration.

• 1966: LULAC and the American G.I. Forum join forces to organize SER - Jobs for Progress, now the largest and the most successful work power program in the nation.

• 1968: LULAC creates the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), the legal arm of the Latino community.

• 1969: LULAC builds its 2,000 housing unit for low income renters.

• 1970: LULAC files the “Cisneros vs. Corpus School District” lawsuit that defines Hispanic Americans as a minorities for the first time.

• 1973: LULAC creates the LULAC National Educational Service Centers (LNESC) to provide educational services to Hispanic students. Today LNESC serves more than 20,000 students a year through its network of 17 educational centers.

• 1975: LULAC forms the “LULAC National Scholarship Fund” administered by LNESC in order to centralize its scholarship gifts which date back to 1932.

• 1980 LULAC files numerous lawsuits with MALDEF and the Southwest Voter Education Project forcing the creation of single member districts throughout the United States.

• 1986 LULAC plays a leading role the formation and passage of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986.

• 1995 LULAC established the “Commitment with America” to better serve Hispanic American communities.

• 1996 LULAC establishes the LULAC Institute to provide model volunteer programs for Latino communities.

• 2000 LULAC issues the “LULAC Challenge” to candidates for elective office in order to establish their positions on the top ten issues of concern for Hispanic Americans.

• 2003 LULAC attorneys settle “LULAC vs. INS” class action lawsuit that provides an avenue for 100,000 immigrants to become permanent legal residents.

• 2004 LULAC announces the LULAC Leadership Initiative to revitalize Hispanic neighborhoods from within by creating innovative grass roots programs in over 700 Hispanic communities served by LULAC Councils.

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