Rangel, Irma,

Born in 1931, Irma Lerma Rangel was raised in Kingsville, Texas where her parents were the first Mexican Americans to build their home in a traditionally Anglo-American neighborhood. In 1952, Ms. Rangel acquired her Bachelor's degree in Business Administration and a teaching certificate from Texas A & I-Kingsville. She taught for 14 years, 9 of which were in Venezuela. She returned to the U.S. to attend St. Mary's University, obtaining her law degree in 1969. She was the first woman to work as an assistant district attorney in Corpus Christi and, in 1973, she was the first Mexican American woman to open a law office in Kingsville. She was the first woman elected as chairman of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus and, in 1974, the first Mexican American woman elected as chairman of the Kleberg County Democratic Party. Irma Rangel chose to remain single, devoting herself to her career in law and politics. In 1976, she became the first Mexican American woman to be elected to the Texas Legislature and continuously represented the Forty-ninth Legislative District in the Texas House of Representatives for 26 years. At the time of the interview she had been reelected for her 11th term and was chairman of the House Higher Education Committee. Among other honors, she was inducted into the Texas Women's Hall of Fame in 1994. She died in 2003.