Jovita Idar

Jovita Idar Vivero (September 7, 1885 – June 15, 1946) was an American journalist, teacher, political activist, and civil rights worker who championed the cause of Mexican Americans and Mexican immigrants. Against the backdrop of the Mexican Revolution, which lasted a decade from 1910 through 1920, she worked for a series of newspapers, using her writing to work towards making a meaningful and effective change. She began her career in journalism at La Crónica, her father's newspaper in Laredo, Texas, her hometown.

While working as a journalist, she became the president of the newly established League of Mexican Women—La Liga Femenil Mexicanista—in October 1911, an organization with a focus on offering free education to Mexican children in Laredo. She was also active in the Primer Congreso Mexicanista, an organization that brought Mexican-Americans together to discuss issues such as their lack of access to adequate education and economic resources.

Idar was honored on an American Women quarter in 2023.

Early life

Jovita Idar was born in Laredo, Texas, in 1885. She was one of eight children of Jovita Vivero Gómez and Nicasio Idar who strove to advance the civil rights of Mexican-Americans. The Idar family were part of the gente decente, who had better access to good education and opportunities than many méxico-tejano families had. All eight Idar children grew up in an atmosphere where rights and responsibilities and the underprivileged circumstances of the Chicano community were consistently discussed. In the book Marching to a Different Drummer, Robin Kadison Berson explains that "Growing up, Jovita was an imaginative, spirited girl; eager student, she won prizes for her poetry and enjoyed reciting before an audience."