Clotilde Pérez García

Clotilde Pérez García (January 9, 1917 - May 23, 2003) was a Mexican-American physician, activist, author, and educator. Her archival and activist efforts centered around Hispanics, co-founding the Spanish American Genealogical Association and American GI Forum; performing the latter with her brother Héctor P. García.

Early life García was born on January 9, 1917, in Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Her father was college professor José García and her mother was school teacher Faustina Pérez García. García received an associate degree in 1936 from Edinburg Junior College (now part of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley), then attended the University of Texas in Austin, graduating with a bachelor's degree in pre-med, zoology, and chemistry in 1938. She then returned home to support her family by teaching at several schools in South Texas through the 1940s. She later returned to study at the University of Texas, earning a master's in education in 1950. She completed her internship at Corpus Christi Memorial Hospital and then opened a private practice.

She engaged in numerous medical activities, such as surgery, hospital and office visits, and house calls. However, delivering babies was one of her greatest strengths as a doctor. Garcia delivered over 10,000 babies throughout the course of her career, and many of these children were named Cleo.

Civic activity Garcia faced discrimination because of her Mexican background and fought against such differential treatment. She was once denied access to the doctor's cafeteria in the hospital she worked on account of her race, and immediately protested this denial to administrators. Additionally, a property owner once refused to sell Garcia a lakefront house in Corpus Christi on account of her race. In response, she found a property nearby and built a new house on the land.

Garcia was highly active the in communities to which she belonged. Garcia served as the national health director of the League of United Latin American Citizens. She, along with her brother, started the American GI Forum. She also served on the board of directors for the Nueces County Anti-Poverty Program. Garcia's advocacy for those in need is further illustrated by her participation in the Valley Farm Workers Minimum Wage March of 1966. Additionally, Garcia was a member of the Task Force to Evaluate Medicaid Texas in addition to the Texas Constitution Revision Commission. Garcia also helped promote the presidential campaigns of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson in South Texas. Altogether, Garcia worked with over 29 different civic organizations to encourage social change. She received the Community Leader of America Award in 1969. Garcia was also inducted into the Texas Women's Hall of Fame.

Garcia was a strong advocate for education, and served as the regent of Del Mar College for 22 years. She served on the Del Mar College Vocational Nursing Advisory Committee as well as the Nueces County Hale-Aiken Committee, which helped improve the quality of local public education. She founded the Carmelite Day Nursery Parents and Friends Club, which supported education for children of the poor. As a whole, Garcia supported policies related to bilingual education, desegregation of public schools, and federally funded breakfast for young students.

Legacy Following her death in 2003, the Texas Senate published a resolution honoring Garcia and her family. The public library of Corpus Christi was named after Garcia in 2008. At Del Mar College, the new health sciences building constructed in 1983 was named after her. The Tejano Genealogy Society of Austin established the Clotilde P. Garcia Book Prize in her honor.