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336 q I q Writer Jovita Idar, is second from the right in the print shop El Progreso. University of Texas, Institute of Texan Cultures at San Antonio. No. 084–0592, Courtesy of A. Ike Idar. IDAR JUÁREZ, JOVITA (1885–1946) On September 7, 1885, in Laredo, Texas, Nicasio and Jovita Vivero Idar welcomed the birth of their first daughter, Jovita. The second of eight children, Jovita displayed a love of education and a passion for civil rights early on. In these endeavors her father, the publisher of the Spanish-language newspaper La Crónica, proved influential. Nicasio Idar took pride in his daughter and sent her to Holding Institute, a local Methodist school. In 1903 Jovita Idar earned a teaching certificate at Holding and taught at a small school in Los Ojuelos. The inadequate conditions at this school frustrated her. She resigned and moved back to Laredo to work for La Crónica. Working alongside her father and brothers, Idar used La Crónica to address issues such as racism, school segregation, poverty, the denigration of the Spanish language and Mexican culture, and lynchings. Displaying its transnational orientation, the newspaper also provided extensive coverage of the Mexican Revolution and often took positions in support of progressive reforms in Mexico. Idar and her family saw a direct correlation between the battle for reforms in Mexico and the struggle against oppressive conditions in Texas. La Crónica called a convention of the Orden Caballeros de Honor. This fraternal order sponsored the First Mexican Congress, spearheading the earliest statewide civil rights campaign in Texas. Congress participants gathered in Laredo, Texas, on September 14– 22, 1911, to discuss the educational, social, and economic conditions of Mexican Tejanos. Women participated in the congress and, in fact, formed an offshoot organization called the League of Mexican Women. The league, led by Jovita Idar as its first president, sought to improve the educational experience of Spanish-speaking women and children. Idar often said, “Educate a woman, and you educate a family.” She also favored roles for women in public life. The ideals of the league permeated Idar’s life. For instance, her commitment to education continued even after her formal departure from the profession. In Immigration of Latinas to the United States 337 q 1911 she began to publish El Estudiante, a weekly bilingual educational magazine used by local teachers for pedagogical purposes. As for women, Idar demonstrated her faith in their ability to function successfully in public arenas, including battle zones. In 1913 Laredoans witnessed firsthand the bloodiness of the Mexican Revolution. The battle of Nuevo Laredo, across the river from Laredo, inspired a number of Laredo women to cross the bridge and aid the wounded. Idar assisted her friend Leonor Villegas de Magnón in the creation of the White Cross. Similar to the American Red Cross during the U.S. Civil War, this medical brigade nursed combatants during Mexico’s own civil strife. Idar, Villegas de Magnón, and others traveled with the Revolutionary Army of Venustiano Carranza from the El Paso–Cuidad Juárez border to Mexico City. Upon her return to Laredo, Idar joined the newspaper staff of El Progreso. The newspaper published an editorial critical of President Woodrow Wilson’s order to send troops to the Texas-Mexico border. The Texas Rangers attempted to shut down the offices of the newspaper but were met at the door by a determined Jovita Idar. Arguing that the rangers’ plan was unconstitutional since it violated the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of the press, she stood her ground until the rangers left. The next day the rangers returned when Idar was not present and destroyed the presses. In 1914 Idar’s father died. She and her brothers continued to publish La Crónica. Idar also worked for a number of other newspapers, including El Eco del Golfo, La Luz, and La Prensa. In 1916 she joined her brother Eduardo in the publication of another family newspaper, Evolución. Jovita Idar married Bartolo Juárez on May 20, 1917, and the couple moved to San Antonio. She and her husband established the Democratic Club, and she worked as a precinct judge for the party. She established a free kindergarten, worked at Robert G. Green County Hospital as an interpreter for Spanish-speaking patients, taught hygiene and infant care courses for women, and coedited El Heraldo Christiano, a publication of the Methodist Church. Idar Juárez did not have children, but she became...
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