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Eloisa Garcia Tamez (born March 2, 1935) is an American civil rights leader, professional nurse, professor, and retired officer of the United States Army's Nursing Corps. She is a prominent opponent and litigant against the Texas–Mexico border wall.

Early life

Born in Cameron County, Texas, to Jose Cavazos Garcia and Lydia Esparza Garcia, Eloisa Garcia Tamez was raised in a community with her sibling, grandparents, cousins, and extended family.

Education

Following schooling in La Encantada and San Benito High School, Tamez attended St. Mary’s School of Nursing in Galveston, Texas. She received a bachelor of science degree in nursing from Incarnate Word College in 1968. She received a master of science degree in nursing from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio School of Nursing in 1973 and a Ph.D. in Health Education from the University of Texas at Austin in 1985.

Early activism

In the summer of 1952, she led her community members in a local struggle against the discriminatory effects of the controversial consolidation of Landrum District #3 with the San Benito Independent School District, which would have favored white and elite families over the poorer landowners in traditional rancherias. She achieved high status among the rancherias during this struggle to advance the civil rights of the poorer, Mexican-American families in 'Deep South Texas'. Her community referred to her as "La Chata".

Military service

Tamez worked at the Audie L. Murphy Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas from 1972 to 1982. From 1982 to 1999, she was an officer, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel, in the United States Army Reserve. During this time, she was an assistant chief nurse or chief nurse at VA hospitals in San Juan, Puerto Rico; Hot Springs, South Dakota; and Cleveland, Ohio. On October 25, 2008, she was sworn into the Texas State Guard Medical Brigade as Commander for the Rio Grande Valley Company.

Teaching

Tamez taught at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV). She became associate dean for Student Success and Engagement at the UTRGV School of Nursing.

Current activism

Tamez co-founded the National Association of Hispanic Nurses and the International Latino Nurse Faculty.

Awards and honors

• 2024: “Leader and Legend of Texas Nursing, Texas Nurses Association
• 2008: Henry B. Gonzalez Civil Rights Award
• 2008: Provost's Hispanic Heritage Award, University of Texas-Pan American
• 2003: Alumna of Distinction, University of the Incarnate Word
• 1994: Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing
• 1994: "A" Proficiency Designator, United States Army Medical Department

Notes

1. ^ Rice, Laura (June 23, 2022). "At 87, this Texan just earned her fifth college degree". Texas Standard. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
2. ^ "Tamez Recognized as Leader and Legend in Texas Nursing". Valley Business Report. 2024. Retrieved 20 April 2024.

References

• Handbook of Texas Online:

Nuevo Santander

Jose Esparza (1856-1926)

El Calaboz, Texas

Land Grants

External links

• Highlights in the History of the Army Nurse Corps: appendices
• Texas State Guard Medical Brigade (MRC), Recent Information, "LTC Tamez Sworn In"
• "Filling a Void, Tamez Sworn in as Medical Brigade Commander". Mid-Valley Town Crier, October 28, 2008
• "Eloisa ... Opens Her Gates To Border Fence Surveyors", Rio Grande Guardian, April 22, 2008
• "Holes in the Wall". Melissa del Bosque, The Texas Observer, February 22, 2008 Archived April 2, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
• "Holes in the Wall - Texas Border Wall Bypassing Wealthy Residents With Bush Admin Ties", Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!
• "Dispatches from the Border Wall", Melisssa del Bosque, The Texas Observer, February 22, 2008
• Dallas News, 07:55 AM CST on Thursday, January 10, 2008. "Border landowners face legal battle in fence plan. U.S. preparing cases; opponents say ancestral rights are at stake"
• ABC News: "Government May Sue over Border Fence"
• Latina Lista.net
• "Texas Border Mayors Sue Homeland Secretary Chertoff", Cox News Service, May 17, 2008
• "South Texas Groups Sue DHS to Restore Environmental Laws along the Border", Lone Star Chapter Sierra Club, May 30, 2008
• "Border Fence Lawsuit to be Filed Friday; County Also Joins TBC Action", May 27, 2008

Archived March 7, 2009, at the Wayback Machine

• "Movements Afoot to Demolish the U.S.-Mexico Border Wall", Kent Paterson, Mexidata.info
• "Border wall appealed to U.S. Supreme Court", December 10, 2008
• Copy of Lawsuit: Eloisa Garcia Tamez, Benito J. Garcia, Plaintiffs vs. Michael Chertoff, Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, et al., Defendants

• 1935 births
• Living people
• American nursing administrators
• People from Cameron County, Texas
• People from San Benito, Texas
• University of Texas at Austin alumni
• University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio alumni
• Fellows of the American Academy of Nursing
• Nursing researchers
• United States Army Nurse Corps officers
• United States Army reservists
• American nursing educators
• Women in the United States Army
• Activists for Hispanic and Latino American civil rights
• American civil rights activists
• Hispanic and Latino American military personnel
• Hispanic and Latino American women educators
• Hispanic and Latino American teachers
• American activists
• Women in warfare in North America
• Activists from Texas
• Educators from Texas
• 21st-century American women educators
• 20th-century American women
• Military personnel from Texas