Eduardo ("Ed") Idar, Jr., was born in Laredo, Texas, in 1920, to a family known for its political activities. Idar's father and grandfather were both newspaper printers before and after the Mexican Revolution. After he graduated from high school in 1938, Idar served as a civilian employee and soldier of the U.S. Army, working in England, India and China in the 1940s. It was while stationed in England that Idar met his first wife, Joan Stringer, with whom he had two children. While in China, Idar earned both the Bronze Star and the Army Commendation Medal, and rose to the rank of Technical Sergeant. He was honorably discharged from the service in 1946.
Supported by the G.I. Bill, Idar earned his Bachelor of Arts in journalism at The University of Texas at Austin in 1949. At UT he was a member of the Alba and Laredo clubs, and began to work with Hector P. García during the founding of the American G.I. Forum (AGIF). Idar later fulfilled the offices of both chairman and secretary of the AGIF in Texas. There, he and others worked towards increasing the Mexican American influence in the political arena, and fought against segregation in the schools. In 1954, Idar gained admission to The University of Texas School of Law, and eventually set up his own legal practices in McAllen and later San Angelo.
In 1970, Idar became an attorney for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), where he worked until 1974. While with MALDEF, Idar became head of the organization's San Antonio office. He worked on several civil rights cases, including
Correspondence, legal documents, memoranda, photographs, newsclippings, and audiovisual materials, 1941-2002 (bulk 1941-1981) comprise this collection of professional and personal papers. The first series, General and Biographical, contains both family-related papers and materials from Idar's time with the Army in the 1940s. The second series, Personal Correspondence, contains letters to and from longtime friends such as Hector P. Garcia and others. Activities and Organizations, the third series, is by far the largest series, with several subseries describing Idar's work in the legal and civic fields over the years. This series includes his work with MALDEF, the American G.I. Forum, and the Attorney General's office, as well as other professional and private activities. The fourth series in the collection, Collected Materials, contains subject or reference files that Idar compiled over the course of his career, focused mainly on racial and socio-economic problems in Texas and the nation more generally. The last series, Audiovisual Materials, is a small series of audio recordings of Idar and Dr. Hector P. Garcia.
Unrestricted.
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Cite as: Eduardo Idar, Jr. Papers, Benson Latin American Collection, the University of Texas at Austin Libraries.
Oral history interviews with Eduardo Idar, Jr., can be found listed in the Miscellaneous Sound Recordings collection at the Benson Latin American Collection.
The Eduardo Idar, Jr., Papers are classified under the following
Memoranda, correspondence, interviews and photographs comprise this series, which is arranged chronologically. Included in the series are materials concerning Idar's time in the U.S. Army and at The University of Texas at Austin. It also includes a written interview with Idar, and materials on his family.
A small series of correspondence with various individuals was marked as "personal correspondence" by Idar himself, and has been arranged to keep that designation intact. The series is arranged alphabetically. Much of this correspondenc relates to the G.I. Forum, materials about which can be found in Activities and Organizations.
Correspondence, legal documents, organizational files, publications, photographs, and newsclippings comprise this largest series. His work with the G.I. Forum is documented here, as well as his participation in federal, state, and local elections, including PASSO(Political Association of Spanish-Speaking Organizations). In addition, office files and cases from Idar's private practice and time with MALDEF is included in this series. By far the largest amount of material is from the Attorney General's office, specifically in regards to
These materials are arranged to reflect Mr. Idar's extensive involvement with the American G.I. Forum. He was an officer of the Texas organization for several years, serving as President and as the General Secretary. There are three groups of materials included here. The first is Correspondence, which is small due to the fact that Mr. Idar placed much of his correspondence regarding the G.I. Forum with "Personal Correspondence." The Organizational files contain copies of the consitution and bylaws, historical materials, and membership rosters. The third group, Activities, contains papers and photographs concerning work the G.I. Forum did in advertising the plight of migrant workers in the Rio Grande Valley. There are also materials on the poll tax drives conducted by the Forum, and the cases of discrimination that the G.I. Forum lobbied against. In addition, 37 issues of the organizational bulletin are included at the end of the subseries.
Mr. Idar was involved in politics and elections from a young age, and this subseries reflects his political activities. While never elected to a public office, Mr. Idar worked on several campaigns. These campaigns are arranged by the size of the electorate. The subseries "Federal" contains work done by Mr. Idar for presidential elections; he worked for both the Kennedy and Johnson campaigns, and tried very hard to see Mexican-American appointed to federal positions under both administrations. "State" contains the records of legislative and gubernatorial campaigns, and includes many newsclippings about candidates and voting records of legislators. Mr. Idar was also involved in local politics wherever he lived, and the subseries "Local" contains materials from election races in Austin, McAllen, Laredo, and San Angelo. The last subseries, "Candidates" includes name files on several candidates that Mr. Idar worked for or endorsed for office. These files include correspondence, newsclippings, and propaganda for each candidate.
Mr. Idar was one of the founding members of PASSO; this subseries is arranged to reflect his involvement with the organization. "Office Files" contains correspondence and records from his time as an officer. The largest part of PASSO's mission was to endorse political candidates, thereby giving the chosen candidate the support of the Mexican-American community. They did this by meeting at conventions and voting for their candidates. The subseries Conventions is mostly comprised of materials in the 1962 political elections in Texas, but also gives some materials on the endorsement of Yarborough in later years. This subseries is arranged chronologically.
Mr. Idar was involved in several committees and panels over the course of his career. Many of these organizations are represented in this subseries, and are arranged alphabetically. Most of his committee work dealt with Mexican-American issues such as discrimination and unequal educational opportunities for young students.
This subseries includes materials from Mr. Idar's years as a private attorney. After graduating from The University of Texas School of Law, he went into practice in Laredo, partnering with Bob Sanchez (his cousin) for a short period in the late 1950s. In the early 1960s, Idar moved to San Angelo and set up an office there. The arrangement of the materials is chronological, and includes materials from later years, as well, when Idar worked for the Attorney General's Office and after.
MALDEF was begun in San Antonio in 1968. Mr. Idar joined the organization in 1970, and began running the San Antonio office shortly thereafter. At this time, Mario Obledo opened new offices in California. Idar stayed in charge of the San Antonio branch after Obledo resigned as head of the organization and Sanford Rosen became head of all litigation for the branch offices. Idar would resign in 1973 in response to changes that Rosen made to the organizational structure.
This subseries reflects Idar's work as a managing attorney in MALDEF. This includes correspondence with directors of MALDEF, organizational records, and grants that MALDEF received for administrative purposes. There are also extensive materials on cases from MALDEF, such as school discrimination cases and police brutality cases.
Mr. Idar joined the State Attorney General's office in 1973, and worked there for 10 years. Besides management and office files, there are also cases on which Idar worked, divided into "police cases" and "prisoner rights cases."
By far, the largest section are the records of
Next are the files of the "Special Master," a person appointed by the Court to oversee the renovations of prison policies. Nathan Vincent was appointed to this position after the appeal. Vincent was responsible for forcing the TDC to comply with Judge Justice's rulings on how the TDC would run its prisons. The Attorney General's office tried consistently to get rid of the Special Master, without success. These documents reflect those attempts.
After the files on the trial and ruling itself, there are other various materials used for the trial, such as annual reports, budgets, and agendas from the TDC. There are also cases from other states that were related to
Publications, clippings, studies, and bibliographies comprise this series of collected materials. Included in the material is information Idar gathered about the Mexican-American situation in the United States, such as statistical information and publications on the issue of segregation in the schools.
This series consists of seven reels of speeches by Mr. Idar and Hector García. Separated from this collection, however, are approximately 90 audio cassettes of oral interviews with Mr. Idar, done by the Benson Latin American Collection. These audio cassettes may be found in the Miscellaneous Sound Recordings collection.
About Yarborough. 4.5 minutes, in Spanish.