Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) hosts a special event celebrating the contributions of Laredo and national icon Jovita Idar on Friday, Sept. 29 at 7 p.m. in the Center for the Fine and Performing Arts Theatre.
Admission to “Tributo A Jovita Idar: Honoring a Laredo National Icon” is free of charge and open to the public. Throughout September, Idar has been celebrated anew nationwide since the release of the United States Mint’s Commemorative Quarter honoring her.
The University’s celebration of this native Laredo daughter joins other celebrations at universities across Texas and the nation. The public is encouraged to attend and celebrate the life and times of this iconic Laredo figure.
The TAMIU event will include a lecture on Idar and her remarkable contributions as a Mexican-American journalist, activist, and suffragist by Dr. Irma Cantú, TAMIU associate professor of Spanish, and Rebekah Arenaz, University College lecturer. A special presentation by the Office of Congressman Henry Cuellar is also planned.
Highlighting the program will be the performance by the TAMIU Ballet Folklórico of “Tributo A Jovita Idar,” a multimedia/dance performance selection under the direction of Nayeli López Diaz. It is performed in traditional costume and period music and includes projections of archival photographs.
Among Idar’s key accomplishments was the organization of the first Mexican-American civil rights conference in 1911 to address racism, lynching, and dismal educational opportunities for Mexican-American children. She also helped create the League of Mexican Women, one of the first Latina feminist organizations, serving as its first president.
She strongly encouraged women’s involvement in public policy and was an advocate for quality bilingual education for Mexican-American children. Throughout her life (1885 – 1946), she stood prominently on the front lines of change for the rights of women and Mexican-Americans.
The Jovita Idar Quarter is the ninth coin in the American Women Quarters Program of the United States Mint. The depiction of Idar shows her with hands clasped and the fabric of her dress inscribed with some of her life’s accomplishments.
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