5. Photographs of the American GI Forum
The photographs below show AGIF members in action in some of the many causes and campaigns that they championed in Texas and beyond.
Dr. Hector P. Garcia (all the way on the right) joins striking farm workers in their march from Rio Grande City to Austin, Texas in 1966 (Dr. Hector P. Garcia Papers, Mary and Jeff Bell Library, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi)
Texas AGIF members protesting abuse by the Texas Rangers by picketing Texas Governor John Connally’s speaking appearance at the 1967 gathering of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) in Laredo, Texas (University of Texas at Arlington Libraries).
A Colorado GI Forum member picketing the Golden, Colorado-based Coors brewing company, ca. 1970s. In 1966, the Colorado GI Forum had launched what became a national, multi-decade boycott of the beer company for discrimination against Mexican American and African American workers and for support of California grape growers against agricultural workers, among other reasons (Courtesy of Juan Espinosa).
Texas AGIF members, including Dr. Hector P. Garcia (with his sister Clotilde), at a protest ca. 1977 demanding justice for Mexican American military veteran José Campos Torres, after Houston police officers beat him to death and dumped his body. (Dr. Hector P. Garcia Papers, Mary and Jeff Bell Library, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi).
SOURCES:
“Dr. Hector P. Garcia at Protest March,” Dr. Hector P. Garcia Papers, Collection 5, Box 456, Folder 03. Special Collections and Archives, Mary and Jeff Bell Library, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. 1966. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://library.tamucc.edu/exhibits/s/garcia/item/179
Pancho Medrano Papers, University of Texas at Arlington Libraries. "American G.I. Forum Picketers at LULAC Convention, 1967." UTA Libraries Digital Gallery. 1967. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://library.uta.edu/digitalgallery/img/10019448
“Dr. Hector P. Garcia at Protest,” Dr. Hector P. Garcia Papers, Collection 5, Box 451, Folder 11. Special Collections and Archives, Mary and Jeff Bell Library, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. 1966. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://library.tamucc.edu/exhibits/s/garcia/item/191