Evelina Lopez Antonetty

Evelina Lopez Antonetty (1922−1984) was a Puerto Rican civil rights and education activist whose work primarily focused on Puerto Rican children in New York City. Antonetty started United Bronx Parents in South Bronx, New York which helped with bilingual classes, school lunches, and increased community involvement. Antonetty's work played a large role in why schools across the United States now have bilingual education.

As of 2016, United Bronx Parents remains active in school systems and has spread throughout the U.S. Antonetty was greatly recognized as an organized and strong leader.

Early life Antonetty was born on September 19, 1922, into a poor family in Salinas, a small fishing village in Puerto Rico. She grew up as the eldest of three daughters. Her mother, Eva Cruz Lopez, sent her to live in New York with her aunt and uncle in 1933 when Antonetty was 11 years old. She went to public school in East Harlem, Wadleigh High School for Girls which was considered one of the best schools in the city. Her family moved around a lot within the Latino community. They were part of the working poor in Harlem but were relatively fortunate as Eva had a steady job. Her activism stemmed from her childhood of poverty growing up in Puerto Rico and then the exposition of the progressive politics of the Great Depression after her emigration to New York City. Her experience with rejection and discrimination in the public school district motivated her to reach out and want to help other children like her. The program provided training sessions to better inform parents on the evaluations of schools regarding the types of teachers and the types of educational programs that schools had to offer. Evelina Antonetty hoped that the United Bronx Parents would diminish the idea that poverty, rather than inequality, was why minorities were not able to get an education. In the late 1960s, the goal of the program shifted to trying to increase bilingual education, which was realized in 1968, when South Bronx implemented bilingual schools. The United Bronx program originally set out to help Puerto Rican parents become more involved in the New York educational system. However, due to its success, it also began involving African American mothers and expanding to other cities within New York and throughout the country.

Legacy In 2011, a mural was painted in the South Bronx honoring her work and dedication for the United Bronx Parents.