Montemayor, Alice Dickerson

An active participant in the national leadership of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) during the late 1930’s, a feminist, and, later in life, a folk artist, Alice Dickerson Montemayor was born Aug. 6, 1902 in Laredo, Texas. The death of her father caused Alice to drop her plans of studying law. Having graduated from Laredo High School in 1924, she remained in Laredo to assist her mother. She was able to attend the local business college for a year. In 1927 she married Francisco Montemayor. They had two sons, Francisco and Aurelio. Throughout her life Alice Montemayor held many working positions, including social worker in Webb County from 1934 to 1949, business owner in the 1930’s and 1950’s, and school registrar in the Laredo school district, a position she held from 1956 till her retirement in 1972.

At the invitation of Esther Machuca, Montemayor joined LULAC as a charter member of Ladies LULAC 15 in 1936. She quickly rose within the women's chapter, becoming secretary from 1936-1937, and president in 1938-1939. Having garnered national attention through her reportage of the council’s activities in LULAC News, she served as a national delegate at the 1937 Houston LULAC convention. There she was elected to the position of second national vice president general. Alice Montemayor became the first woman elected to a national office in the organization. By 1940 she had become associate editor of LULAC News and director of Junior LULAC. In her role as vice president she became a leading voice for women at the national level. She promoted the creation of more ladies councils and wrote articles and editorials such as “Son Muy Hombres”, which denounced notions of male superiority and pushed for a more active role for women in the organization. Hoping to avoid many of “faults” found in earlier LULAC councils, she organized the youth group Junior LULAC and served as its president from 1939-1940. Mrs. Montemayor left LULAC in 1940.

Having retired as school registrar in 1972, Alice Montemayor started painting and establishing herself as a folk artist. Although she started by painting gourds, by 1976, at the suggestion of her son, Aurelio, she started working with acrylics and other surfaces, like tin, wood, and masonite. Using bright primary colors, she often depicted women, family, and nature in her works. Not limiting herself, Mrs. Montemayor frequently painted beyond the picture and onto the frame. She signed her works "Mom" and then "Admonty." The League of United Chicano Artist of Austin sponsored an exhibition of her work in 1978. This was followed in 1979 by an exhibit at the Instituto Cultural Mexicano in San Antonio. Her work was also displayed in a number of other American cities and in Mexico. In 1988 she was the focus of a presentation at fifty-ninth Annual LULAC Convention and at the Smithsonian Institution.

ALice Dickerson Montemayor died on May 13, 1989.

References:

Orozco, Cynthia E. Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "Montemayor, Alice Dickerson" http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/MM/fmobl.html (accessed January 10, 2007).

From the guide to the Alice Dickerson Montemayor Papers N/A. 23342134., 1920-1989, (Benson Latin American Collection, The University of Texas at Austin)