Irma rangel biography video theodore

Bio

Irma Rangel, in 1976, was the first Mexican American woman elected to the Texas House of Representatives. After graduating from Texas A&I in 1952, she became a teacher in Venezuela.

In 1964, she returned to the U.S. to teach in California, where she wrote a book, How To Teach Spanish in the Elementary Grades. She eventually decided to become a lawyer and attended St. Mary's Law School in San Antonio.

After law school, she accepted a job as assistant district attorney in Corpus Christi, insisting that she be paid the same as her male counterparts.

Rangel opened her own law office in Kingsville and became interested in local politics.

She won the race for Democratic county chairperson, then decided to run for the Texas Legislature after encouragement from people involved in the Texas Women's Political Caucus and the causes of Mexican American women.

For the next 20 years, Irma Rangel made the concerns of women, children, and the poor the focus of her w