Alonso S. Perales

Duane's take

The official marker in Jim Wells County tells this story, and I'm gonna do it the justice it deserves. Alonso Perales was born on October 17, 1898, right here in Alice, Texas. And from the very start, life handed him a weight that would have stopped a lesser person cold.

He lost his father, Nicolas Perales, when he was six years old. Then, at twelve, he lost his mother, Susana Sandoval. Orphaned, twice over, before most kids have figured out what the world even is.

But Alonso Perales was not most kids. He graduated from Alice High School, went on to Draughon's Practical Business College, and sharpened a skill that would open doors he hadn't even imagined yet. Stenography.

When World War I came calling, those stenography skills earned him a position as a U.S. Army field clerk. From there he moved to Washington, D.C., where he worked for the U.S.

Department of Commerce. Then came a B.A. from George Washington University, and then a law degree in 1926. Now here is where the story starts picking up real speed.

As a bilingual lawyer, Perales landed a job with the U.S. Department of State. He served on thirteen diplomatic missions, to Mexico, the West Indies, Central America, South America.

He was an attorney on General Pershing's staff for the Tacna-Arica Commission in 1925 and 1926. He served as a legal advisor to the electoral mission in Nicaragua in 1928, 1930, and 1932. The man was, by any measure, operating at the highest levels of American diplomacy.

And yet he never lost sight of home. Of what was happening to people who looked like him, who came from where he came from. On June 29, 1927, Perales issued a press release announcing his new law offices in McAllen and Rio Grande City.

But tucked inside that announcement was something bigger. He described, in his own words, the preliminary steps for the formation of a strong entity of American citizens of Mexican origin whose exclusive objective would be to sincerely work for, and I want you to hear this phrase whole, pro intellectual, economic, social and political improvement. He was planting a seed, and he knew it.

Then, on August 14, 1927, at a civil rights conference in Harlingen, Perales stood alongside J. T. Canales and Luz Saenz.

All three were members of the League of Latin American Citizens. Together, they supported a resolution to unify all Mexican-American organizations. That action, that single act of collective will, led to the founding of the League of United Latin American Citizens.

LULAC. Founded on February 17, 1929. For the rest of his life, Perales fought through LULAC, through hundreds of essays, speeches, and newspaper articles, and through three books.

A civil rights leader who used every tool a sharp mind could pick up. He died in San Antonio on May 9, 1960, and was buried in Collins Cemetery, next to his mother, Susana, the woman he lost when he was twelve years old. In 1977, San Antonio's Edgewood ISD dedicated Alonso S.

Perales Elementary School in his name. A boy from Alice, Texas, who lost everything early and then spent the rest of his life building something that would last far longer than any one man's years. That is the story the marker tells.

And now you know it too.

What the marker says

Alonso Perales, born on Oct. 17, 1898 in Alice, was orphaned at a young age, losing his father, Nicolas Perales, at age six and his mother, Susana Sandoval, at age twelve. Perales graduated from Alice High School and attended Draughon's Practical Business College. During World War I, his stenography skills earned a job as a U.S. Army field clerk. Perales moved to Washington, D.C. and worked for the U.S. Department of Commerce. He received a B.A. from George Washington University and a law degree in 1926. His skills as a bilingual lawyer led to a job with the U.S. Department of State, where he served on 13 diplomatic missions to Mexico, the West Indies and Central and South America. Perales was an attorney on General Pershing's staff for the Tacna-Arica Commission in 1925-26, and a legal advisor to the electoral mission in Nicaragua in 1928, 1930 and 1932. On June 29, 1927, Perales issued a press release publicizing his new law offices in McAllen and Rio Grande City, as well as "preliminary steps for the formation…of a strong entity of American citizens of Mexican origin whose exclusive objective would be to sincerely work for pro intellectual, economic, social and political improvement." On Aug. 14, 1927 at a civil rights conference in Harlingen, Perales, J. T. Canales and Luz Saenz, members of the League of Latin American Citizens, supported a resolution to unify all Mexican-American organizations. That action led to the founding of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) on February 17, 1929. Perales was a prominent civil rights leader through LULAC and through hundreds of essays, speeches, and newspaper articles and three books. He died in San Antonio on May 9, 1960 and was buried in Collins Cemetery, next to his mother. In 1977, San Antonio's Edgewood ISD dedicated Alonso S. Perales Elementary School. (2013)