Abby Connolly
Jovita became the first president of La Liga Feminil Mexicaista. The organization did a lot of work for local communities, including hosting study sessions for women and donating food and supplies to needy people.
Inspired by the importance of being bilingual, Jovita founded El Etudiante, a bilingual and educational newspaper that provided methods of teaching students how to become bilingual in order not to lose touch with their heritage.
When the Mexican Revolution occurred when she was 28-years-old in 1913, Jovita crossed the border and volunteered as a nurse for La Cruz Blanca (the White Cross) to help injured people in Nuevo Laredo. She returned to the United States the following year and joined the staff of the El Progreso newspaper.
At El Progreso, Jovita published an opinion piece criticizing President Woodrow Wilson’s decision to send U.S. troops to the border. Texas Rangers came to the newspaper offices to shut it down, but she stood in front of the presses and powerfully argued that it was her first amendment right to publish that piece.
The Texas Rangers left but returned the next day and tragically destroyed the newspaper’s presses while she wasn’t there. But did that stop Jovita? No. She went right back to writing for other papers. After her father died in 1914, she and her brothers took over La Crónicaand continued to write about activism.
In 1917, Jovita married her husband, Bartolo Juárez, and they moved to San Antonio, Texas. There, they formed a Democratic Club and became popular political leaders and voices in their community.
Jovita worked at a publication called El Herald Christiano and continued to do charity work on the side, providing free schooling to kids and volunteering as a translator at a local hospital. In 1946, Jovita passed away at 60 due to a pulmonary hemorrhage brought on by advanced tuberculosis. She was truly a remarkable woman who helped others realize the power of words and education.
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