Teacher, journalist and political activist Jovita Idár praised women’s suffrage in her father’s weekly newspaper in Laredo,  La Crónica, where she connected the vote to long standing demands for Mexican American civil rights. She was part of a family that spoke out against the educational and social discrimination that ethnic Mexicans faced in Texas. While she is most well known for her work in Laredo, she spent the last half of her life in San Antonio’s Westside, where she continued to advocate for women’s rights, civil rights, and provided education, food and clothing to her community.

Jovita Idár was born in Laredo in 1885. Her father, Nicasio Idar, was born in Port Isabel, Texas, and her mother Jovita Vivero was from San Luis Potosi, Mexico. They met on the border, married and had nine children. Nicasio worked as a yardmaster in the railroad yards of Nuevo Leon, where he organized workers in the city of Acambaro. According to his son Aquilino, in 1890 Nicasio formed the first union of railroad workers in Mexico, La Orden Suprema de Empleados Ferrocarrileros Mexicanos. Nicasio was able to leave railroad work and he eventually became publisher of the newspaper La Crónica in Laredo. The newspaper featured stories on the struggles of ethnic Mexicans, including educational and social discrimination, the loss of Mexican culture and the Spanish language, and lynchings. Three of his children– Clemente, Jovita and Eduardo, would continue to advocate for human and civil rights through journalism.

As a young girl, Jovita benefited from growing up in a middle class family with access to a good education. She attended the Laredo Seminary, where she learned English, and was also educated at the Domínguez Institute, where she was mentored by Professor Simón G. Domínguez. Jovita was trained as a teacher, earning her teaching certificate in 1903. She then taught in a small town called Los Ojuelos, in southwestern Webb County. She was angered by the lack of resources and poor classroom conditions, and also with the curriculum that did not educate Mexican children about their history and heritage. She also published a weekly bilingual educational magazine called El Estudiante.

Eventually Jovita resigned in order to become a journalist, where she felt she could encourage more social change. She began to work at La Crónica with her family. The family faced significant danger because of their activism. Jovita’s brother Federico was assassinated, and her brother Clemente received death threats. In spite of these challenges, the Idárs continued their social justice work. In 1911, after the brutal lynching of 14 year old Antonio Gómez in Thorndale Texas, her family organized El Primer Congreso Mexicanista, a conference to discussthe multiple grievances of ethnic Mexicans. This organization is credited with launching the Mexican American civil rights movement. Jovita helped create La Liga Femenil Mexicanista, an organization that advocated for women’s suffrage, provided food, clothing and education for poor children, and hosted literary and theatrical productions to raise money for the community. This league is one of the earliest known efforts of Mexican American women to unite for social and political causes. Jovita became the league’s first president. She consistently advocated for women’s rights.