Hector P. Garcia

Héctor Pérez García (January 17, 1914 – July 26, 1996) was a Mexican-American physician, surgeon, World War II veteran, civil rights advocate, and founder of the American GI Forum (AGIF). As a result of the national prominence he earned through his work on behalf of Hispanic Americans, he was instrumental in the appointment of Vicente T. Ximenes, a Mexican American and AGIF charter member, to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 1966.

García was named as alternate representative to the United Nations in 1967; was appointed to the US Commission on Civil Rights in 1968; was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, in 1984; and was named to the Order of St. Gregory the Great by Pope John Paul II in 1990. In 1998, he was posthumously given the Order of the Aztec Eagle, Mexico's highest award for foreigners, in a ceremony in Corpus Christi.

Early life García was born in the city of Llera, Tamaulipas, Mexico, to José García and Faustina Pérez García, both school teachers. His family fled the violence of the Mexican Revolution in 1917, legally immigrating to Mercedes, Texas. His father's professional credentials were not recognized in this new country, so he went into the dry goods business. Both parents instilled a love and respect for education in all of their children and expected them all to become medical doctors. García and five of his siblings—José Antonio García, Clotilde Pérez García, Cuitláhuac Pérez García, Xicotencátl Pérez García, and Dalia García-Malison—did become physicians.

In 1947, García was elected president of the local chapter of LULAC. In the same year, he was hospitalized with life-threatening acute nephritis.

Héctor P. García and the American GI Forum (AGIF) intervened and sought assistance from U.S. Senator Lyndon B. Johnson. Johnson arranged for Longoria to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery, making him the first Mexican American to be buried there.

The case received national attention and highlighted discrimination against Mexican Americans in the United States. The organization raised funds to assist individuals who could not afford poll taxes and advocated for equal access to voting.

It also campaigned against the Bracero Program, which recruited migrant laborers during the war years and was associated with discriminatory practices.

García also worked to bring national attention to the conditions of schools for children in South Texas. In 1950, he wrote to the Texas Department of Health expressing concerns about sanitation and requesting inspections to prevent disease and outbreaks. He also opposed school segregation and discrimination in the classroom. Following this decision, LULAC and AGIF pursued legal challenges in Texas to promote the integration of schools for Mexican American students. He frequently delivered eulogies at funerals for these soldiers. The Hector P. Garcia Middle School, Dallas, Texas, opened in 2007 The Major Hector P. Garcia, MD High School opened in Chicago, Illinois, in 2008 Texas State Highway 286 was named the Dr. Hector P. Garcia Memorial Highway in April, 2008 The Dr. Hector P. Garcia Middle School was established and dedicated in San Antonio, Texas, in October, 2009 Bronze bust of Dr. Héctor P. García was dedicated at the Dr. Hector P. Garcia Public Library, Mercedes, Texas, in January, 2012 Texas Historical Marker unveiled at the Dr. Hector P. Garcia Public Library, Mercedes, Texas, in 2013 Dr. Hector P. Garcia's Official 100th Birthday Celebration observed in Corpus Christi, Texas, January 17, 2014 Texas Historical Marker unveiled at Christus Spohn Memorial Hospital, Corpus Christi, Texas, February, 2014 Dr. Hector P. Garcia Memorial Family Health Center approved by Nueces County Commissioners and the Hospital District to be opened in 2016 Dr. Hector P. Garcia Drive in Rancho Vista subdivision, Corpus Christi, Texas, unveiled by Braselton Homes, January 13, 2015 Points of Light Monument Organization reveals its next recipient will be Dr. Héctor P. García, January 15, 2016

Legacy As one of the early leaders of the Hispanic civil rights, García's activities foreshadowed much of the struggle of the Chicano Movement. As a figure of national and international prominence, the effects of his life have been felt at all levels of society, from the poor barrios that he fought to improve, to the highest echelons of government. The end of the 1950s desegregated Texan hotels, cinemas, and restaurants. Beauty parlors and barbershops were desegregated in the 1960s, with cemeteries and swimming pools not being opened to Mexican Americans until the 1970s.

In the realm of popular culture, in 1950, Pulitzer Prize winner Edna Ferber interviewed García to get a sense of the Mexican American experience in Texas. She later wrote the 1952 novel Giant, basing some of the incidents in the work on her interview. The book was later turned into a 1956 film starring James Dean, Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, and Dennis Hopper.

In 1985, the Dr. Héctor Pérez García Endowed Chair was created at Yale University. In 1988, the main branch of the Corpus Christi post office was renamed in his honor. In 1996, a statue of him was dedicated at Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. In 1999, his image was placed on the US Treasury's $75 I Bond series honoring great Americans.

In 2002, public television station KEDT in Corpus Christi, Texas, produced a documentary on him entitled "Justice for my People: The Dr. Hector P. Garcia Story". The program was broadcast nationally on PBS.

Under Senate Bill 495, signed on May 30, 2009, by the governor of Texas, the state of Texas established the third Wednesday of each September as "Dr. Hector P. Garcia Texas State Recognition Day".

In April 2010, the US House of Representatives passed H.CON.RES.222, recognizing the leadership and historical contributions of Dr. Héctor García to the Hispanic community and his remarkable efforts to combat racial and ethnic discrimination in the US.