As we celebrate Women History Month, we remember Irma Rangel. After law school, Rangel went on to become one of the first Hispanic female law clerks. After her clerkship with U.S. District Judge Adrian Spears, she became one of the first Hispanic women assistant district attorneys in Texas by working in the District Attorneys office in Nueces County. She then returned to her hometown of Kingsville, where she opened her own law practice and was the only Hispanic woman attorney in the city. Her partner and friend, Hector Garcia, would greatly influence her political activities. In 1974, Rangel began her life in politics by running for, and winning, the chairmanship of the Kleberg County Democratic Party. But she had more ambitious goals and decided to run for a seat in the Texas House of Representatives. She gathered her girlhood friends, family, and a few newcomers to Kingsville and worked hard to win the seat that would make her the only Hispanic woman in the legislature. In 1993, she closed her successful law practice in order to serve her district as a legislator full-time. Upon her death on March 17, 2003, the Mexican American Legislative Caucus of the Texas House issued a news release, which summarized her legislative career. Irma Rangel was always extremely proud of her service on this caucus and talked about her time as the chair of the caucus as one of the milestones of her political career. It is fitting that the news release so correctly mentioned the highlights of her career as she would have expressed them. The news item reports: First elected in 1976, Representative Rangel served her South Texas district for 26 years. As the first female Mexican American legislator and first and only woman to serve as Chair of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus, she paved the way for others to follow. A champion of minority and student issues in Texas, Representative Rangel fought for her constituents leaving her mark on the history of this great state. During her first legislative session, Representative Rangel passed legislation creating educational and training opportunities for single mothers in need of better paying jobs. In 1993, she secured $460 million for the South Texas Border Initiative. In the last legislative session, Representative Rangel passed a bill creating the first professional school in South Texas — Texas A&M Health Science Center - Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy. In 1995, Speaker James E. Pete Laney appointed Representative Rangel Chair of the Texas House Committee on Higher Education. As the first Mexican-American to head the committee, Rangel led the charge to ensure educational opportunities for all children. Rangel joint-authored and sponsored legislation creating the TEXAS Grant I and Grant II Programs, which have allocated millions of dollars in financial support to low-income students. In response to the Hopwood v. Texas decision, which ended affirmative action at all state colleges and universities, Rangel pioneered landmark legislation in 1997 (House Bill 588) which requires state colleges and universities to admit automatically all students who graduate in the top 10 percent of their high school class.
Posted on: Sat, 08 Mar 2014 06:31:55 +0000
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015