Adelina Otero-Warren

María Adelina Isabel Emilia "Nina" Otero-Warren (October 23, 1881 – January 3, 1965) was an American woman's suffragist, educator, and politician. Otero-Warren created a legacy of civil service through her work in education, politics, and public health. She became one of New Mexico's first female government officials when she served as Santa Fe Superintendent of Instruction from 1917 to 1929. Otero-Warren was the first Latina to run for Congress, running unsuccessfully in 1922 as the Republican nominee to represent in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Early life and education On October 23, 1881, María Adelina Isabel Emilia (Nina) Otero was born on her family's hacienda “La Constancia,” close to Los Lunas, New Mexico. Her mother, Eloisa Luna Otero Bergere, and father, Manuel B. Otero, were part of the Hispanic elite (known as Hispanos). Her mother's family were among the first to settle in New Mexico arriving in 1598 during the Oñate settlement. Her father was also a descendant of longtime settlers, who migrated to New Mexico from Spain in 1786. Manuel was well-educated, studying in Washington D.C. at Georgetown University and in Germany at Heidelberg University, while her mother had studied at a Catholic Academy in New York. Otero-Warren had an older brother, Eduardo, who lived from 1880 to 1932, and a younger brother, Manuel, who lived from 1883 to 1963, and nine half siblings. In 1886, Otero-Warren's mother married Alfred Maurice Bergere, an Englishman. He was well-connected to the German mercantile and Anglo-American families in the New Mexican territory. This cross-cultural marriage between Eloisa and Alfred merged political and economic agendas between Anglos and the Spanish elite. alt=Adelina Otero-Warren, 1900

Early adulthood Adelina married a cavalry officer, Lieutenant Rawson D. Warren in 1908. At the time, he was stationed at Fort Wingate in New Mexico.

In 1914, Otero-Warren started working with the woman's suffrage campaign in New Mexico with Alice Paul's Congressional Union (forerunner of the National Woman's Party). She received 466.5 votes to Montoya's 99.5 votes. With this victory as Republican Party nominee, Otero-Warren became the first Latina to run for Congress. The Otero quarter was released in 2022, making Otero-Warren the first Hispanic American to appear on US currency.

In the first run of the 2022 musical Suffs Otero-Warren was played by Susan Oliveras.