Carmen Felix - 1982

Carmen Felix honored for her work to improve housing opinions in barrio of El Paso, Texas.

Area: Central / South Central

Source: UTEP Library Sp. Collections, Eva Ross

Uploaded by: El Paso Museum of History

Herlinda Wong Chew and Children - 1930's

Herlinda Wong Chew and children - Herlinda Wong Chew is to the far right of the image. Herlinda Wong Chew was born in Guadalajara to Chinese parents. At the time of the Mexican Revolution she was living in Juarez and was among the youngsters who sold candy and cookies to the rebel soldiers at their camp near the smelter. After her marriage she and her husband moved to El Paso and became business partners and owners of the New China Grocery Company. Fluent in four languages, English, Spanish, French and Chinese, she worked continually for mutual understanding between the Mexican, Chinese, and American peoples. In addition to her business dealings and raising eight children, she was a student of international affairs, learned immigration law, and served as honorary Chinese consul in El Paso.

Area: Out of Area / Out of Area

Source: UTEP Library Sp. Collections, Eva Ross

Uploaded by: El Paso Museum of History

Pilar Cotera Herrera PHD - 1996

Pilar Cotera Herrera Ph.D. circa1996 Juarez native, Bilingual Scholar - Pilar is a graduate of St. Patrick's Cathedral School, Loretto Academy in El Paso Texas and UTEP professor.

Area: Eastside / Eastwood

Source: UTEP Library Special Collection , Eva Ross MS 447

Uploaded by: El Paso Museum of History

Barbara Lee

Barbara Jean Lee (born July 16, 1946) is the U.S. Representative for California's 13th congressional district, serving East Bay voters from 1998 to 2013 during a time when the region was designated California's 9th congressional district. She is a member of the Democratic Party. She was the first woman to represent the 9th district and is also the first woman to represent the 13th district. Lee was the Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and was the Co-Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Lee is notable as the only member of either house of Congress to vote against the authorization of use of force following the September 11, 2001 attacks. This made her a hero among many in the anti-war movement. Lee has been a vocal critic of the war in Iraq and supports legislation creating a Department of Peace. Lee was born Barbara Jean Tutt in El Paso, Texas, the daughter of Mildred Adaire (née Parish) and Garvin Alexander Tutt, a Lieutenant Colonel. According to a DNA analysis, she descended primarily from people of Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone. She moved from Texas to California in 1960 with her military family parents, and attended San Fernando High School in San Fernando, California.[6] She was a young single mother of two receiving public assistance when she began attending college. Lee was educated at Mills College, and received an MSW from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1975.

Area: Central / Five Points

Source: U.S. Congress

Uploaded by: El Paso Museum of History

Alice Davis - Principal of North Loop Elementary - 1985

Alice Davis - Principal of North Loop Elementary circa 1985 - Ysleta Independent School District

Area: Mission Valley / Hacienda Heights

Source: Eva Ross

Uploaded by: El Paso Museum of History

Sandra Day O'Connor

She was born in El Paso, Texas, to Harry Alfred Day, a rancher, and Ada Mae (Wilkey). She grew up on a cattle ranch near Duncan, Arizona. She later wrote a book with her brother, H. Alan Day, Lazy B : Growing up on a Cattle Ranch in the American West (2002), about her childhood experiences on the ranch. For most of her early schooling, O'Connor lived in El Paso with her maternal grandmother, and attended public schools and the Radford School for Girls, a private school. She graduated sixth in her class at Austin High School in El Paso in 1946. She attended Stanford University, where she received her B.A. in economics in 1950. She continued at the Stanford Law School for her LL.B.. There, she served on the Stanford Law Review with its presiding editor in chief, future Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist, who was the class valedictorian, and whom she briefly dated during law school. She has stated that she graduated third in her law school class, although Stanford's official position is that the law school did not rank students in 1952. On December 20, 1952, six months after graduating from law school, she married John Jay O'Connor III. They had three sons: Scott, Brian, and Jay. Her husband suffered from Alzheimer's disease for nearly twenty years until his death in 2009, and she has become involved in raising awareness of the disease. After graduation from law school, at least 40 law firms refused to interview her for a position as an attorney because she was a woman. She eventually found employment as a deputy county attorney in San Mateo, California, after she offered to work for no salary and without an office, sharing space with a secretary. O'Connor served as Assistant Attorney General of Arizona 1965–69 until she was appointed to fill a vacancy in the Arizona State Senate. She was re-elected to the State Senate in 1973 and became the first woman to serve as its Majority Leader. In 1975 she was elected to the Maricopa County Superior Court and in 1979 was elevated to the Arizona State Court of Appeals. She served on the Court of Appeals until 1981 when she was appointed to the Supreme Court.

Area: Central / Lincoln Park

Source: El Paso County Historical Society

Reference ID: 013-1994-039A

Uploaded by: El Paso Museum of History

Romy Ledesma Ph.D. 1991 - El Paso, Texas

UTEP Professor - Romy Ledesma Ph. D. 1991 received National Science Foundation research grant.

Area: Central / University

Source: UTEP Library Sp. Collections MS 447

Uploaded by: El Paso Museum of History

Bonnie Lesley, Teacher - 1985

Bonnie Lesley, Teacher, Ysleta Administrator, President, El Paso Women's Political Caucus

Area: Eastside / Eastwood

Source: UTEP Library Sp. Collections, Eva Ross

Uploaded by: El Paso Museum of History

Bonnie Moss-Rhodes - Honored In El Paso, Texas - 1988

Bonnie Moss-Rhodes - Honored In El Paso as an Unsung Heroine

Area: Eastside / Eastwood

Source: UTEP Library Sp. Collections, Eva Ross

Uploaded by: El Paso Museum of History

Frances Hills - Fort Bliss

Frances Hills - worked as a mathematician at Fort Bliss, Texas.

Area: Northeast / Ft. Bliss

Source: Eva Ross

Uploaded by: El Paso Museum of History

Music Teacher In Ysleta District , circa 1984

Music Teacher In Ysleta District, in El Paso, Texas - 1984. Image Description: A music teacher instructs a group of four students in this black and white photograph. The music teacher is positioned on the left hand side of the photograph. She has short curly hair and is wearing a sweater with a collared shirt underneath. She has one hand in the air gesturing towards the students and the other hand is touching sheet music. The four students are on the right side of the photograph and are all looking towards their teacher.

Area: Mission Valley / Ysleta

Source: UTEP Library Sp. Collections, Eva Ross

Uploaded by: El Paso Museum of History

Nancy Hamilton

Nancy Corinne Miller Hamilton was born August 22, 1929, in El Paso, the daughter of Harold F. and Corinne Miller. She graduated from Austin High School in 1946 and received her B.A. degree in journalism in 1949 and M.A. in English in 1954 from Texas Western College (now The University of Texas at El Paso). She married Ralph E. Hamilton in 1968 and became the stepmother of his children, James (Jay) and Jeannie. Her career alternated mainly between newspaper reporting and educational public relations. She spent nine years with the El Paso Times (1950-59), nine years with the El Paso Independent School District (1959-68), four years with the El Paso Herald-Post (1972-76) and nine years in media relations for UTEP (1976-85). She then became associate director of Texas Western Press at UTEP, serving until her retirement in 1990. She continued to edit books for TW Press and other publishers for another ten years. In 1997 and 1998 she was a part-time lecturer in public relations for the UTEP Department of Communication. Nancy Hamilton is past chairman of the Executive Committee of the UTEP Heritage Commission. After her husband Ralph passed away in 2007, a memorial fund was established for him at the Heritage Commission; he had been an active volunteer, and, through the generosity of donors, he continued to support the commission. She is also past sheriff of Mt. Franklin Corral of Westerners, and past president of Western Writers of America, a professional organization of about 500 members. Her history interests have included serving three years as editor of the El Paso Historical Society’s Password, ten years on the El Paso County Historical Commission, longtime secretary-treasurer of the Pioneers Association of El Paso County, and service on the Four Centuries ’81 Commission. She is the author of a biography, Ben Dowell, El Paso’s First Mayor (1976), and UTEP: A Pictorial History of the University of Texas at El Paso (1988). She was a contributor to the revised Handbook of Texas. She is co-author of Legendary Watering Holes (2004, Texas A&M Press), Literary El Paso (2009, TCU Press) and Grace and Gumption: Women of El Paso (2011, TCU Press) as well as over 100 articles in UTEP’s magazine Nova. http://transformations.utep.edu/?p=3234

Area: Central / University

Source: El Paso County Historical Society

Reference ID: 013-1984-077

Uploaded by: El Paso Museum of History

Miss Ann Bucher

She was a member of a pioneer family. Her father, William Bucher, was prominent in banking in Southern New Mexico and El Paso. She owned and managed First National building from 1936 to 1959, when she sold the building and was one of the first women members of the National Building Owners and Managers Association.

Area: Central / Sunset Heights

Source: El Paso County Historical Society

Uploaded by: El Paso Museum of History

Rosa Guerrero

Guerrero is an artist, educator, dance historian, and humanitarian committed to promoting understanding between cultures. Rosa was a teacher for 20 years, developing the first intercultural school programs. She was awarded life membership in the Texas PTA and was the first Hispanic woman in El Paso to have a school named in her honor; Rosa Guerrero Elementary. She is founder and artistic director of the International Folklorico Dance Group. Her film Tapestry, a study in cultural harmony and understanding, was honored with a national documentary award. Guerrero has been the recipient of many honors, including Outstanding Woman in the Arts (Women’s Political Caucus), Outstanding Woman Artist in El Paso (the Mexican American National Association), one of the Outstanding Hispanics in the Southwest (Adolph Coors, Co.), and Outstanding Hispanic of El Paso (UTEP). There are simply too many more accolades to mention here.

Area: Central / Morningside Heights

Source: El Paso County Historical Society

Uploaded by: El Paso Museum of History

Anita Lee Blair & guide dog Fawn, El Paso, TX

Anita Blair was a state representative and community activist, who died in 2010 with 93 years of age. Blair became the first El Paso woman elected as a state representative, in 1952. She was also the first blind woman to serve in an elected position in the state of Texas. During her term in office, Blair found money to remodel the State School for the Deaf. She also fought for teacher pay raises and supported a bill that allowed women to serve on juries. In her later years, Blair became a pioneer for the disabled and was active in the community. Due to an accident Blair lost her sight with 19, but with her guide dog Fawn, she adjusted quickly to the darkness. Blair attended the University of Texas at El Paso, then known as the Texas College of Mines and Metallurgy. She graduated in 1944 with a master's degree in social sciences. The portrait was taken by Samuel Fant, it probably dates from the 1940s. Anita Blair is buried in Texas State Cemetery.

Area: Central / Downtown

Collection: Samuel Fant Collection

Source: University of Texas at El Paso Library - Special Collections Department

Reference ID: PH058-Blair, Anita 02

Uploaded by: El Paso Museum of History

Emma Moreno, Norma Stoltz, and Amalia Morena Stoltz

These beautiful women and the little girl are Emma Moreno, Norma Stoltz, and Amalia Morena Stoltz. Apart from the names, their identity is unknown. The picture was taken in 1941 by the Casasola Photograph Studio. Alfonso Casasola, a member of a famous family of Mexican photographers, came to El Paso in the 1920s after several years in the Mexican consular service. He established the Casasola Studio (also known by its Spanish name, Estudio Casasola) at 511 S. El Paso Street and was active in many civic organizations. He died on February 17, 1948 at the age of 59, but his wife, Emma Flores Casasola, continued the studio for many years. Many El Pasoans took their pictures in the studio.

Area: Central / Downtown

Collection: Casasola Photograph Collection

Source: University of Texas at El Paso Library - Special Collections Department

Reference ID: PH041-04-00251

Uploaded by: El Paso Museum of History

Anne Platt Haddad

Long time resident of El Paso, Texas. Anne graduated from Coronado High School.

Area: Westside / Mission Hills

Source: El Paso County Historical Society

Uploaded by: El Paso Museum of History

Edna Angela Nixon - 1956

Edna Angela Nixon who attended Loretto Academy in El Paso, Texas in the year 1956.

Area: Central / Austin Terrace

Source: Loretto Academy

Uploaded by: El Paso Museum of History

Mabel Welch - 1920 - Designed and Built Homes In El Paso, Texas

A wife and mother in her 20s. A widow and the sole owner of a construction business at 35. A University student at 46. A registered architect at 49. From the beginning, Mabel was an active part of Welch Construction Company. She did all the drawings for the houses her husband built, as well as the interior decorating. He built houses on Trowbridge Drive, Pershing Drive, Tularosa Avenue, Hastings Drive – all over Central El Paso – and in the Lower Valley, all of dark brick with white trim and black lines around screen doors. The couple would move into a newly built house until it was sold. In a 1960 interview Mabel said, “For five years we did not occupy the same house over two months at a time. My husband built them and I furnished them.” Welch also built huge homes on Rim Road for prominent families, including A. B. Poe, J. P. Kemp and F. P. Schuster, whose house was designed not in Spanish style but English Norman, based on ideas the Schusters had collected from various sources during a trip to Europe in 1927. The original recycler, Welch bought marble mantels and stair treads from the old U.S. Courthouse downtown when it was razed and used the marble in the Schuster “castle” in 1939. She was to use other salvaged materials in other houses during her career. In today’s American culture, women are encouraged to follow their dreams regardless of age. But for a woman who moved from Mississippi to Texas in 1900 in a covered wagon to marry late, have her first child at almost 30, run a successful business and go to a university in her 40s in the early part of the twentieth century was most unusual. Mabel Clair Vanderburg Welch never blinked an eye. As she once said, “Things had to be done, and I managed to get them done.” Welch died in December 1981 in California where her son and family lived. She was 91. In fall 2008, the El Paso County Historical Society inducted her into its Hall of Honor. Her son Elvin, retired and living in Yakima, Washington, attended the ceremony. He told Pat Worthington, curator for the Society, that his mother had made him promise to burn all her plans and papers in McKelligon Canyon after her death. Like a good son, Elvin did. What has not been destroyed, however, are all the marvelous Spanish homes in Manhattan Heights and other areas in town that Mabel Welch created for families, a concept that gave her such joy. http://epcc.libguides.com/content.php?pid=309255&sid=2891618

Area: Central / Austin Terrace

Source: El Paso Historical Society

Uploaded by: El Paso Museum of History