José de la Luz Sáenz Papers

José de la Luz Sáenz was born May 17, 1888, in Realitos, Duval County, Texas. He was one of eight children of Rosalío Sáenz and Cristina Hernández. Growing up in South Texas, José de la Luz heard stories of his indigenous ancestry from his father, from whom he inherited a strong feeling of pride in his heritage. In 1900 the Sáenz family moved to Alice, Texas, where José de la Luz graduated high school in 1908. After attending business college in San Antonio, Sáenz obtained his teacher's certificate and began his lifelong vocation as an educator in South Texas. He married María Petra Esparza in 1917, and together they were the parents of nine children: Adán, María de la Luz, Enrique, Evangelina, Eduardo, Eva Olivia, Cristina, Beatriz, and José de la Luz, Jr.

Following the entrance of the United States into World War I, Sáenz volunteered in 1918 for service in the armed forces. He served in the 360th Regiment Infantry of the 90th Division from Texas, stationed in France and occupied Germany. During his years in Europe, Sáenz kept a diary which was published in 1933 as Los méxico-americanos en la Gran Guerra y su contingente en pro de la democracia, la humanidad, y la justicia (San Antonio: Artes Gráficas). In his diary, Sáenz linked the American World War I "rhetoric of democracy" with the Mexican American struggle for civil rights. Upon his return from the war, Sáenz translated his experiences and sacrifices—and those of the many other American soldiers of Mexican descent—fighting for democracy into a movement for Mexican American civil rights in Texas. Sáenz had an early involvement in the establishment of LULAC, the League of United Latin American Citizens. He was a member of the LULAC Board of Trustees between 1930 and 1932, and was president of the McAllen chapter in the 1930s. Through his numerous writings and his leadership in local activist organizations, Sáenz continued to battle discrimination.

During the Depression, Sáenz found work through the Federal Works Agency and continued his career as a teacher and school administrator in the South Texas towns of Moore, New Braunfels, Benavides, Premont, La Joya, Oilton, and Edinburg. United States involvement in World War II—and the participation of his own children in the war effort—brought renewed vigor to his belief that these contributions to the defense and promotion of American democracy made Mexican Americans deserving of equal legal and social treatment, and his writings and actions fighting discrimination demonstrate his continued leadership. Professor José de la Luz Sáenz died on April 12, 1953. He is buried in the National Cemetery at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio.

Source: "Fighting on Two Fronts: The WWI Diary of José de la Luz Sáenz and the Language of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement" by Emilio Zamora [draft]