The founding of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) marked an important moment in the history of Hispanic people in the United States. It signaled the end of one era and the beginning of another. It embodied the will of a people to overcome inequality, discrimination and injustice, to claim their rights as U. S. citizens, and to access the American dream.

To the Hispanic, it was a soul-wrenching demand upon a people who had come to the New World to implant their culture and had stubbornly clung to their language and traditions. The LULAC founders felt that the times demanded that Hispanics in the United States make a total commitment to their new homeland, however unwillingly they may have been incorporated by conquest, economic need or political exile. To the Anglo, LULAC's simple proclamation had the symbolic force of planting a flag on ground that had not been conceded.

When the United States of North America annexed one-third of Mexico's territory following the Mexican War, there were 77,000 Mexican citizens living in the conquered lands. These persons were given the option of accepting full U. S. citizenship or returning to Mexico. Hispanic civilization had been in conquered territory for 250 years when the Anglo took over. Most of these conquered people chose to stay in the lands they had settled and, in many cases, raised generations of family. But though the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo said they were citizens of the United States of North America, their conquerors had not accepted that reality.

The ink was hardly dry on the treaty when the Anglo began to deny the Mexican Americans their rights as citizens. Their lands were taken away; they were stripped of political power; they were isolated from the larger community; their culture was disparaged; their role in history was erased; they were relentlessly attacked physically and demoralized.

Passing decades did not diminished the prejudice. Instead, the feeling that Mexican were an alien presence intensified when irrigated farming, railroad building and mining began to pull large number of workers across the border and the bloodiest civil war in the hemisphere began to expel refugees from Mexico into the United States of North America.

By claiming citizenship for themselves and, by extension, for all Mexican American people, the founders of LULAC were challenging the prevailing view and serving notice that they would be laying claim to all the rights and privileges due U. S. citizens. Furthermore, they were immediately exercising one of those sacred rights, the right to organize, and utilizing it for the benefit of their people.

The portent of that action was not lost on the majority. It signaled that Hispanics in the U. S. had advanced beyond the elemental struggle for survival that had exhausted their energies for so many decades. Implicit in this advance was a modicum of economic success that permitted the members of LULAC to turn their attention from the single-minded pursuit of personal need to the needs of their people as a society. Organization also indicated to the Anglo majority that the Mexican American would no longer be easy to manipulate.

At the same time, LULAC was confronting the identity crisis of Mexican Americans. Denied the security of belonging that comes from acceptance, they did not consider themselves Americans. In some sections of the Southwest, they still saw themselves as Mexicans, in others , they called themselves Hispanos.

As a people apart, Mexican Americans had institutions modeled upon indigenous culture. Hispanic civic organizations dated back to 1894 when La Alianza Hispano Americana was founded. La Sociedad Progresista Mexicana y Recreativa, La Camara de Comercio Mexicana, and La Sociedad Mutualista Mexicana were organized around 1924. There were also hundreds of Catholic organizations that were founded in the early part of the 20th century. As their Spanish names imply, these organizations linked the Mexican American to Mexico. LULAC proposed to change all that. The League of United Latin American Citizens was modeled on U. S. civic organizations, in many ways similar to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), founded in 1910, and had also been likened to the Lions, Elks and Kiwanis clubs. To the U. S. Hispanic citizen, LULAC served notice that it was time to stop gazing nostalgically to Mexico or Spain and clinging to the mentality of isolation in colonias. LULAC announced that it was time to establish roots in the United States and venture forth to mix with the dominant society in all aspects of life.

"A Dark Epoch for Mexican American"

Hispanic were just emerging from their darkest epoch when LULAC was founded. Survival itself was in question. More Mexicans were lynched in the Southwest between 1865 and 1920 than Blacks in other parts of the South and cases of Mexicans being brutally assaulted and murdered were widespread. No jury would convict an Anglo for killing a Mexican. One famous Anglo gunfighter when asked how many men he had killed responded, "Each notch on the handles of my guns represent one kill and I have twenty-seven notches, not counting Mexicans." Discrimination did not know an age limit. In one incident a 14-year Mexican American girl choked to death while eating a dry tortilla because her peers were not allowed to get her a drink from a "white only" water fountain.

"No Mexicans Allowed" and "No Mexicans Served Here" were commonplace signs. There were Black and White schools, that were supposed to be separate but equal, and there were also Mexican schools, for which there were never even a pretense of equality.

Mexican Americans were denied the right of suffrage through the creation of a white primary. Since Mexican Americans were not considered white, they were turned away from the voting polls. Mexican Americans were not permitted to buy real estate in certain residential sections or allowed to serve on juries.

There was also economic discrimination. Mexican American, if hired at all, were relegated to the lowest jobs and received lower wages for the same work done by Anglos. There were never any Mexican Americans in office or management positions.

Mexican Americans suffered the stereotype mentality that all were lazy, poorly dressed, dirty, ill educated, and thieves. This was the excuse used to deny them jobs. In the end, most Mexican American families worked in the fields, farms, and ranches. Most of their children never had an opportunity to attend school. The few that did attend school went to Mexican Schools that had the worse teachers and the buildings that were in deplorable conditions. There were no laws protecting Mexican Americans that were farm workers. Mexican Americans who went on strike were unceremoniously taken across the border without any fear of retribution.

Despite the widespread murder, repression, intimidation, and prejudice, there were areas along the border where Mexican Americans were able to build a strong tradition of self-determination, acquire education, and experience success in business. It was in San Antonio, Brownsville, Corpus Christi, Laredo, El Paso, and similar places that stirrings began to occur early in the 1920s. Almost spontaneously, leaders began talking about the need to organize.

In 1921, Mexican Americans demanded placement on jury rosters by filing several lawsuits. In addition, in this year courageous Mexican Americans started organizing in Texas and demanding that juries reflected the composition of the population.

"The Foundation of LULAC"

The foundation of LULAC was started by three outstanding organizations of the day. The Knights of America, Council number 4 of the Order of the Sons of America, and the League of Latin American Citizens.

The Knights of America organized in 1921, in San Antonio, Texas, was the oldest of the three and had been founded by Frank Leyton, Melchor Leyton, Pablo Cruz, Abraham Armendariz, Merci Montez, Leo Longoria, Vicente Rocha and John Solis. The Knights of America had done much for its community, was under the leadership of M. C. Gonzalez.

The Order of the Sons of America, the second oldest had councils in Sommerset, Pearsall, Corpus Christi, and San Antonio, was under the leadership of a gentleman from San Antonio. However, it was council number 4 from Corpus Christi, founded by Luis Wilmont, Joe Stillman, Dave Barrera, Al Cano, and Desi Luna, and led by Ben Garza, that was the main uniting force for a merger.

The League of Latin American Citizens, the youngest and the most progressive, founded by professor Luz Saenz, Pablo Gonzales, Filiberto Galvan, and under the outstanding leadership of Attorney Alonso S. Perales, had councils in Alice, Austin, Brownsville, Encino, Harlingen, La Grulla, Laredo, McAllen, Penitas, and Robstown. This new and young organization had done just as well, and in some instances better, and was growing at a much faster pace than the other two combined. This organization counted among its members such leaders as J. T. Canales and Clemente Idar, a brilliant orator that was a national organizer for the American Federation of Labor.

Council number 4 of The Order of the Sons of America was concerned that to many organizations were been formed and it seemed to them to be a step toward possible division and weakness. Ben Garza and his council called a meeting attended by M. C. Gonzales, Mauro Machado and John Solis of the Knights of American and Alonso S. Perales, Luz Saenz and Felipe Herrera from the League of Latin American Citizens.

These groups followed the the same principles and purposes, it was perhaps natural that they would eventually attempt to unite. The inevitable happened at Harlingen in 1927.

The League of Latin American Citizens invited the Order of the Sons of America and to the Knights of America to attend an upcoming event in Harlingen. On August 14, 1927 both organizations traveled to Harlingen for the installation of officers for the League of Latin American Citizens. After the installation ceremony a special meeting was called and the President General of The Order of the Sons of America invited The League of Latin American Citizens to unite with them. During the meeting one incident was perhaps of more long term historical significance. At one point during this meeting, J. T. Canales proposed that if a merger did come about and a new organization was formed that it be composed only of U. S. citizens. Since the majority of those at this meeting were Mexican citizens, there was a strong protest and more than 90% of those in attendance walked out of the meeting, leaving only a few members and visitors. The three organizations could not immediately agree on a merger without first meeting with their respective members, but a tentative step was taken with the following resolution, adopted at the Harlingen meeting.

Resolution

"Resolved that the chair shall appoint a committee consisting of one delegate from each town here represented, of which the chair shall be the chairman, and that this committee shall have full and plenary powers from this assembly to study the constitution and by-laws of The Order of the Sons of America and make suggestions tending toward their amendment, if they see fit to amend their constitution, and communicate with a committee from the Order of the Sons of America with equal powers, to the end that this organization (the League) may be incorporated into the Order of the Sons of America."

A year later, on August 4, 1928, leaders pushing to unite the various groups issued a proclamation urging all Latin American civic organizations to merge into one. The committee named to bring about the merger consisted of Ben Garza, A. de Luna and E. H. Martin from Corpus Christi, John Solis and Mauro Machado from San Antonio, and Alonso S. Perales and J. T. Canales from Harlingen.

There were serious doubts as to merger because of strong personality differences that existed between the leaders of The League of Latin American Citizens and The Order of the Sons of America. With this in mind, The Order of the Sons of America and The Knights of America agreed to unite even if The League of Latin American Citizens did not. A year passed without a merging effort. In the meantime, Alonso S. Perales was in constant contact with Ben Garza. Finally, on February 7, 1929, Council #4 withdrew from The Order of the Sons of America when it became clear that its President General would not call the long awaited unification convention. At this meeting, with Alonso S. Perales in attendance as a guest, Council #4 voted to have and to host a uniting convention. The date set was February 17, 1929, at the Obreros Hall, on the corner of Lipan and Carrizo streets in Corpus Christi. Two long years had come and gone since the first merger attempt and now it was about to take place.

"The Uniting Convention"

February 17, 1929, was cold and rainy as delegates and other guests entered Obreros Hall in Corpus Christi, Texas, to start the meeting. Besides the Corpus Christi Son of the Order of the Sons of America, there delegates from the Knights of America from San Antonio and the League of Latin America Citizens from the Rio Grande Valley. In all, there were 25 delegates and 125 Mexican American observers present. Deliberations were conducted in both English and Spanish.

The first order of business was to elect a temporary executive committee. Elected to this committee was Ben Garza as chairperson, M. C. Gonzalez as secretary, and J. T. Canales and J. Luz Saenz as members.

It was not a foregone conclusion that history would be made on this day. Not everyone was anxious to create one organization out of the three groups. Problems stemmed from the inherent reasons why more than one organization was established in the first place. Another problem was the name of the proposed new organization. The group from Corpus Christi wanted a short new name but the members of the League of Latin American Citizens were loathe to surrender what they thought was an aptly descriptive title. However, the strong urge to merge resurfaced after strong moving speeches from Alonso S. Perales, M. C. Gonzalez and Ben Garza.

Finally, a resolution, as follows, establishing the new organization was drafted:

"WHEREAS, for many months of untiring efforts a group of citizens of the City of Corpus Christi, Nueces County, Texas, and former members of Council number 4 of the Order of the Son of America have struggled along using their best means of friendship and accord to unite into solid and great organization two other organizations (The Knights of America of San Antonio and the League of Latin American Citizens, of the Rio Grande Valley) that by principle were pursuing the same identical ideals.

WHEREAS, this group of members had the only thought in mind to render the best undivided help to our brethren throughout the great states of Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and California and knowing aforehand that neither one of these organizations alone, single-handed and divided, could render such help, then,

IT IS RESOLVED by this group of citizens of Corpus Christi, and former members of Council number 4, of the Order of the Son of America, to issue a call to all these organizations and to use their best efforts to bring about the merging of the three organizations into one, and on the 17th day of February, A. D. 1929 that long expected reunion was accomplished."

The committee went in to adopt a set of temporary rules. These rules called for a Constitutional Convention for May 18-19, 1929 in Corpus Christi, Texas and for the Executive Committee to administer LULAC until the constitutional. The committee was also given the task of recommending a temporary name of the new organization. This was a very delicate task since each organization had a proud history, a strong constitution, a solid structure, and strong leadership. The committee

Alonso S. Perales propose the name "Latin American Citizens' League." Mauro Machado suggested the word "United" as apropos for the merger and as a way of differentiating the title from "The League of Latin American Citizens" name. Juan Solis made a motion that the name read "United Latin American Citizens." J. T. Canales made a friendly amendment to the motion that the name read "League of United Latin American Citizens" (LULAC). Juan Solis accepted the friendly amendment. The committee went on to adopt a motto. J.T. Canales proposed, "All for One and One for All," as a constant reminder of the trials of unification and as basis for all future activities of LULAC.

After a four hour meeting, the committee presented its recommendations to the delegates. The delegates approved all the recommendations.