Sanchez, R. P.

Roberto P. (Bob) Sanchez, civil rights attorney and political activist, was born on August 20, 1927 in Laredo, Texas.

After graduating from St. Joseph Academy in Laredo, Sanchez volunteered to serve in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He attended the University of Texas at Austin on the GI Bill, and earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in 1950. In 1953, Sanchez earned his J.D. from the South Texas Law School in Houston. Sanchez has practiced law as a trial attorney in McAllen, Tex., for over fifty years. Sanchez was one of the founding attorneys of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) and of Texas Rural Legal Aid. Sanchez was a charter member of the American GI Forum (AGIF) from its inception in 1948, and has served as the organization's national legal advisor and chairman of the Committee on Migratory Labor. In 1968, he was one of the organizers of the Southwest Council of La Raza, now called the National Council of La Raza. He was active in Viva Kennedy, and a political advisor for U.S. Senator Ralph Yarborough in several campaigns during the 1960s. He has also been involved in the National Conference on Poverty, the federal Hispanic Advisory Committee on Immigration and Naturalization, the Bishops Committee for the Spanish Speaking, and McAllen's War on Poverty Committee and Good Government League.

From the description of R.P. (Bob) Sanchez papers, 1921-2005. (University of Texas Libraries). WorldCat record id: 166261659