The Longoria Incident was a major event in the American civil rights movement that took place in 1949 in Three Rivers, Texas. It involved the refusal of a funeral home to bury a World War II veteran, Felix Longoria, because he was Hispanic. This incident sparked outrage and condemnation from the Hispanic community and civil rights organizations, and it helped to bring national attention to the issue of racial discrimination in the United States.
The incident began when Longoria, a Private First Class in the United States Army, was killed in action in the Philippines during World War II. His body was returned to Texas for burial, and his wife, Beatrice, approached the Funeraria del Angel funeral home in Three Rivers to make arrangements for his funeral. However, the funeral home owner, Bob Mathis, refused to allow Longoria to be buried in the funeral home's chapel, citing a policy against allowing Mexican Americans to be buried there.
Mathis's refusal to allow Longoria to be buried in the funeral home caused outrage in the Hispanic community and among civil rights organizations. The American G.I. Forum, a civil rights organization for Hispanic veterans, took up the case and contacted the national media to bring attention to the incident. The case received widespread coverage in the press, and it sparked widespread outrage and condemnation.
As a result of the Longoria Incident, the American G.I. Forum and other civil rights organizations worked to bring about changes in the laws and policies that allowed for racial discrimination. In 1950, the Texas legislature passed a bill prohibiting discrimination in public accommodations, including funeral homes. The Longoria Incident also helped to bring national attention to the issue of racial discrimination in the United States, and it played a role in the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s.
In the end, Felix Longoria was eventually buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C., with full military honors. The Longoria Incident remains a significant event in the history of the civil rights movement and serves as a reminder of the ongoing struggle for equality and justice in the United States.
The Longoria incident involved the refusal of an undertaker to let his funeral home be used for the burial of a Mexican
GI BILL was a law that provided a range of benefits for returning WWII veterans - benefits included low cost mortgages, low interest loans to start a business, cash payments of tuition and loving expenses ro attend University, HS, or Vocational education, as we as one year of unemployment compensation. Aguilar Richard Hudson Juan Camilo Agudelo Cecilia Venable Additional Editing Steven Wechsler Original Proposal by Gary Miller Edit Suite Mpe Online Glue Editorial Sound Mix Heart Punch Studios Narration Recording Bam Studios Transcriptions Caroline Corrigan Legal Jay Fialkov Business Manager Karen Carroll Bennett Archives Birdy Longoria Almendarez Corbis The Corpus Caller Times The Detroit Free Press Hector P. Longoria, cause celebre and a case study in race relations and Hispanic American discrimination. What is the significance of the Longoria Incident? This program was produced by John J. Hector Garcia, formed an alliance over the incident.
The Longoria Affair Flashcards
About the Documentary Sixty years ago in Three Rivers, Texas, the only funeral home in town refused to hold a wake for Felix Longoria, a decorated Mexican American soldier killed in battle during World War II. Hernandez then turned his attention to getting a historical marker placed on the property. The Longoria Incident Army Pvt. It is a big responsibility, but also an honor to help lead these students further than their parents and level the playing field for every individual that seeks our counsel. What happened next is well documented in Collection 5, the Dr. Letter to LBJ After being telephoned by the Longoria family on January 10, 1949, Dr.
What is the significance of the Longoria Incident?
When the story was publicized, it quickly gained national and international attention. It took the U. Aguilar Editor Merril Stern Cinematographer Elia Lyssy Composer Richard Martinez Graphic Design Luc Gorczynski Location Sound John J. The local Mexican American community and its many World War II veterans, tired of being treated like second-class citizens, were incensed. The military uses economic discrimination that forces lower income people into the military in order to earn a living, try to learn a trade, or get money for their education. Everett Collection A surgeon in six European combat zones by the time he returned from World War II, Garcia quickly saw what he and other Mexican American veterans were facing when he opened a clinic with his brother in a Corpus Christi barrio: Neglect and benefit delays from the Veterans Administration. The burial of Private Felix Z.
