Jose Garcia De Lara Papers

A descendent of immigrants, José Garcia De Lara was born in San Antonio, Texas on May 19, 1940. He graduated from San Antonio's Central Catholic High School in 1958. With his family unable to financially support his higher education and the death of his father in 1962, Garcia De Lara self-educated himself over a ten year period by using the resources found at the San Antonio Public Library. When not studying at the library, Garcia De Lara could be found working with several architects, including his mentor O’Neil Ford. In 1972 he passed a four-day test administered by Texas Board of Architectural Examiners to become a registered architect in the state of Texas. Later, he became head of his own architecture firm, De Lara Architects, Inc.

José Garcia De Lara first became a member of LULAC when he joined San Antonio's Westside Council 602 in 1975. Working himself through the ranks he eventually became president of the council. During his tenure as president, Council 602 organized the 53rd Annual LULAC National Convention held in San Antonio in 1982. In addition he took the Council’s treasury from a few hundred dollars to over $20,000.

In 1983 Garcia De Lara became chairman of District XV's Special Issues Committee. By 1984 he had become Director of District XV. During his first year as district director Garcia De Lara successfully defended Mario Cantu's restaurant against eminent domain efforts before the San Antonio Development Agency. Consulting with San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros and other city officials, the district played an influential role in the city’s revision of its affirmative action plan. During this period the South San Antonio School District became the first district in Texas to adopt the concept of single member districts. Garcia De Lara’s group was also in the forefront in the fight against the San Antonio River Authority’s method of electing its board members. Under his leadership District XV greatly expanded its membership.

In November 1985 Garcia De Lara announced his candidacy for state director. Running against Eusevio Morales from Lubbock he won the election at the 57th Annual LULAC State Convention held in Bryan, Texas in May, 1986. He was re-elected to the state office in 1987. Upon entering office he placed a greater emphasize on public issues through a more robust activism. Education was a major issues confronted by Garcia De Lara while state director. Early in 1987 he coordinated the Texas Educational Conference to bring attention to the issue of Latino dropouts. He was also a leader in the struggle against the “English Only” movement in Texas. One of the more controversial suggestions from this period was for LULAC to take over the guardianship of the Alamo. Garcia De Lara was re-elected to a third term as the head of the state organization at the 1988 annual state convention. A few weeks later he would announce his candidacy for the national presidency.

It was soon after the death of his friend and political ally Willie Velasquez that Garcia De Lara made the decision to run for LULAC National President. Announcing his intentions in late June, he became the fourth candidate seeking the national office. Garcia De Lara was elected LULAC National President at the 1988 national convention held in Dallas, Texas. He was re-elected to the presidency in 1989.

When he took over in 1988, the national organization had a debt that had been accruing interest since 1974. Fixing LULAC’s finances became his first priority. In his two years as national president, Garcia De Lara was able to reduce the debt of previous administrations by $565,000. He was also able to obtain title to La Hacienda Apartments in Corpus Christi and get HUD to release $90,000, which was used to pay part of the debt owed to the Alvarado Construction Company. Although still large the debt was more manageable.

Garcia De Lara also initiated a number of changes to LULAC’s functional and organizational structure. With the incorporation of the LULAC National Annual Convention Committee in 1988 he brought the planning, organization, and running of national conventions under the umbrella of the national organization, local councils would no longer play the central role. Some divisions within LULAC were treated by their members as being completely autonomous, not as a subsidiary of the national organization. These groups were to be brought back under national control. The LULAC National Foundation is one such example. Garcia De Lara attempted to restructure the Foundation’s board. Shortly six of the Foundation’s directors filed a lawsuit against LULAC’s national leadership. In reaction, the old Foundation was disbanded and a new LULAC National Foundation was incorporated in 1989. With representatives from the six national regions, a new board of directors was seated. Garcia De Lara lost his bid for a third presidential term at the 1990 LULAC National Convention held in Albuquerque, New Mexico to Nevada’s José Velez.