Several decades after some of the first newspapers in the U.S. were established during the American Revolution, publications like El Progreso illustrated the stories of Mexican-Americans in Texas during the Mexican Revolution.
Back then, a young writer named Jovita Idar was at the forefront of journalistic story-telling that often confronted racism facing her community. Jovita was so passionate about ensuring unfiltered news reached the people that she fought off the Texas Rangers when they attempted to forcefully shut down her operation. Not only was Jovita a prolific writer during the Mexican Revolution, but she also crossed the border from her home state to provide assistance to Mexico’s soldiers as a nurse. Eventually, the Texas Rangers did shut down El Progreso, but that did not deter Jovita from continuing her writing career with La Crónica while also becoming a significant advocate for women’s rights as the first president of La Liga Feminil Mexicaista (the League of Mexican Women). As an activist, Jovita spoke out against the Texas Rangers, the U.S. Army, and former U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, for deploying troops to the southern border.
In the latter portion of her career, Jovita became an active member of the Democratic Party before volunteering at a local Hospital as a Spanish-to-English interpreter for patients. Jovita passed away in San Antonio, Texas at the age of 60. Today, her legacy lives on at the National Women’s History Museum in Alexandria, Virgina, and in literature such as The Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United States.