Edna Cisneros

Edna Cisneros (later Edna Cisneros Carroll; 1930-2013) was Texas’ first Mexican American female lawyer.

Cisneros was born on February 2, 1930, in Raymondville, Texas, to grocer Manuel Cisneros and Benita de la Garza. She earned her Bachelor of Business Administration (1952) from the University of Texas and a Bachelor of Laws (1955) upon attending the university’s law school. Thus, Cisneros achieved another historical feat by becoming the first female to serve as a district attorney in Texas. Since Diana also became a prosecutor, there was various cases in which the sisters represented opposing sides. In 1959, Cisneros married Charles Ernest Carroll. She died on July 26, 2013, in Harlingen, Texas.