Gregoria Ortega

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Gregoria Ortega is a Mexican American activist and religious sister. She is best known for her support of students in an Abilene school walkout and her co-creation of the religious organization for Hispanic sisters and lay women in the Catholic Church, Las Hermanas. She continues work as an activist today.

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Biography

Ortega was raised in El Paso, Texas and attended Bowie High School. [1] [2] When she was very young, her father impressed on her that being a sister was an important job, saying, "They are women who dedicate their entire lives to the Church and to God." [3] She became a sister at 18 when she joined the Our Lady of Victory Missionary Sisters, also known as Victorynoll. [2] She was newly professed in 1962. [4] After taking vows, she served in San Angelo and Eagle Pass, Texas. [1] On August 5, 1967, she took perpetual vows and then was assigned to Tulare, California. [1] Ortega also spent time studying Spanish in Guanajuato City. [5]

In 1969, she arrived in Abilene. [5] She started teaching religious education in the highly segregated schools in the diocese of San Angelo. [2] Ortega opposed the "severe physical abuse of Chicano/a students by their teachers. [6] She encouraged her students to learn about peaceful civil rights protests which led to a nine-day walkout which Ortega supported. [2] Around 300 students participated in the walkout. [7]

Ortega also helped support the students throughout the lawsuit which the students and their families brought against the Abilene School Board. [2] The Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) was involved with the lawsuit which was filed in December of 1969. [8] MALDEF counsel supported the students' rights to free speech and assembly. [9]

Without support from her superiors, alone, "she faced down police officers, judges, school principals and school boards." [10] Ortega's life was threatened for her involvement. [8] Because of her involvement, she was expelled from the diocese. [2]

In 1970, she helped form a Chicano group to deal with issues facing Mexican Americans in the public schools in Rotan. [11]

Ortega met Gloria Gallardo through a friend, Father Edmundo Rodriguez, and the two of them worked together to form Las Hermanas in 1971. [2] When Gallardo showed interest in creating a group for Spanish-speaking sisters and invited Ortega to live with her, Ortega obtained travel funds from Victoryknoll's mother superior and bought a one-way ticket to Houston. [12] Gallardo and Ortega formed Las Hermanas by finding and inviting Mexican-American women to meet in Houston in April 1971. [13] The group eventually grew to have around 900 sisters who were members, and met annually. [2]

In 1973, Ortega and other members of Las Hermanas protested for farmworker's rights in Fresno. [14] [15] Later, Ortega and Sister Carmelita Espinoza were involved in the creation of El Centro Guadalupano, which served Mexican parishioners and was created between 1985 and 1986 in Spokane. [16]

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References

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 "E.P. Nun Takes Perpetual Vows". El Paso Herald-Post. 1967-07-29. p. 3. Retrieved 2017-09-19– via Newspapers.com.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Medina, Lara (2009). "Ortega, Gregoria". In De La Torre, Miguel A. (ed.). Hispanic American Religious Cultures: A - M. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. pp. 413–414. ISBN   9781598841398.
  3. ↑ Medina 2004, p. 47-48.
  4. ↑ "Newly Professed". The Missionary Catechist. 38 (9): 7. October 1962.
  5. 1 2 Medina 2004, p. 47.
  6. ↑ Medina, Lara (2005). "The Challenges and Consequences of Being Latina, Catholic, and Political". In Espinosa, Gastón; Elizondo, Virgilio P.; Miranda, Jesse (eds.). Latino Religions and Civic Activism in the United States. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 98–99. ISBN   9780195162288.
  7. ↑ Medina 2004, p. 49.
  8. 1 2 Medina 2004, p. 50.
  9. ↑ Cardenas, Leo (1969-05-03). "Mexican-American Supported". The Corpus Christi Caller-Times. p. 7. Retrieved 2017-09-18– via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ Sandoval, Moises (March 2010). "Journey to the center of the church". U.S. Catholic . Retrieved 2017-09-18.
  11. ↑ "Chicano Group Formed in Rotan". Abilene Reporter-News. 1970-03-24. p. 39. Retrieved 2017-09-18– via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ Medina 2004, p. 53.
  13. ↑ Flores, María Eva (2010-06-15). "Las Hermanas". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 2017-09-15.
  14. ↑ Dart, John (1973-08-11). "Las Hermanas Divide Forces for Meeting". The Los Angeles Times. p. 28. Retrieved 2017-09-17– via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ Medina 2004, p. 83.
  16. ↑ García, Jerry; García, Gilberto (2005). Memory, Community and Activism: Mexican Migration and Labor in the Pacific Northwest (PDF). JSRI Books. p. 267. ISBN   9780870137709.

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