Oral history interview with Norma Villarreal Ramírez, July 5, 1996 [videorecording].

  1. Resources
  2. View Resource

ArchivalResource

Oral history interview with Norma Villarreal Ramírez, July 5, 1996 [videorecording].

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/49834819

The interview begins with Ms. Ramírez recounting the events in her life that prepared her for public office such as serving on school student councils, active participation in school extracurricular competitions, and early legal training as an attorney with Texas Rural Legal Aid and as Zapata County Commissioner Court Coordinator. She describes the personal influences in her life such as her father who financed her campaigns, her family (immediate and extended) who voluntarily managed the campaigns, supportive and non-supportive former employers and politicians. She also talks about challenges from negative attitudes she faced as a woman in politics. Ms. Ramʹirez talks about the issues she experienced during her campaigns such as political manipulations and voting fraud on the part of her opponents, resentment and retaliation from incumbent politicians, the intervention of the FBI in Zapata County local elections, and her ultimate victory in the Zapata County Judge election following a reversal of voting results by the Texas Court of Appeals. As Zapata County Judge, she talks about the difficulties she continues to encounter learning her job citing lack of cooperation from some county commissioners and the negative attitudes and hostilities by clerical support staff and other incumbent politicians including women, and law enforcement agencies. Ms. Ramʹirez concludes with a discussion of her personal disappointment, discouragement, and disillusionment with the realities of Zapata County politics.

2 videocassettes (VHS) (2 hr., 2 min.) : col. ; 1/2 in.Transcript : 159 p. ; 28 cm.

University of Texas at Arlington, Central Library

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 7614446

University of Texas at Arlington, Central Library

Related Entities

There are 6 Entities related to this resource.

University of Texas at Arlington. Center for Mexican American Studies

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w63c6s61 (corporateBody)

Gutiérrez, José Angel,

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w62r404b (person)

José Angel Gutierrez was born Oct. 25, 1944, in Crystal City, Texas. An activist, educator, organizer, and lawyer, Gutierrez co-founded the La Raza Unida Party and played many leadership roles in the early Chicano civil rights movement. He served as President of the Crystal City Independent School District Board in the early 1970s and as a County Judge for Zavala County, Tex. (1975-1980). In the 1980s, Gutierrez pursued a teaching career and moved to Oregon where he taught at Colegio Cesar Chav...

Texas Rural Legal Aid.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6rr8jnd (corporateBody)

Villarreal Ramírez, Norma,

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6mp91r0 (person)

Born on December 6, 1963. Ms. Ramírez was County Judge for Zapata County. She was first elected in 1994 after contesting results of the Primary and Runoff elections. Ms. Ramírez was a law school graduate from the Reynaldo Garza School of Law and she worked for Texas Rural Legal Aid. She also worked as a Court Coordinator for the District Judge in Zapata prior to seeking elective office. From the description of Oral history interview with Norma Villarreal Ramírez, July 5, 1996 [vid...

United States. Federal Bureau of Investigation

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6mw65wc (corporateBody)

The FBI established this classification when it assumed responsibility for ascertaining the protection capabilities and weaknesses of defense plants. Each plant survey was a separate case file, with the survey, supplemental surveys, and all communications dealing with a plant insofar as plant protection was concerned, filed together. On June 1, 1941, and January 5, 1942, the Navy and Army, respectively, assumed responsibility for surveying defense plants in which they had interests. Thereafter, ...

Texas. Court of Appeals

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6jh968f (corporateBody)

The Court of Appeals was created by the Texas Constitution of 1876, Article V, Section 4, which removed all criminal jurisdiction from the Supreme Court. Organized by the legislature effective May 1876, the Court of Appeals had final and exclusive appellate jurisdiction in all cases not appealable to the Supreme Court; this included all criminal appeals (for both felonies and misdemeanors), and all civil appeals of which the county courts had original or appellate jurisdiction. The ...