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
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"
"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 "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
"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