Galarza, Ernesto (1905-1984), was a Mexican American educator and civil rights leader. He worked to end discrimination against his people by teaching, writing, and helping to organize labor unions.
Galarza was born on Aug. 15, 1905, in Jalcocotan, near Tepic, in the state of Nayarit, Mexico. He and his parents came to the United States, where he attended school and worked as a farm laborer. He graduated from Occidental College in 1927 and earned a Ph.D. degree from Columbia University in 1944. Galarza organized laborers in California and other states, helped to improve health care and education for Mexican Americans, and taught at several universities. Galarza also wrote several books, including Merchants of Labor (1964), which analyzed farmworkers’ struggles for improved living and working conditions, and his autobiography, Barrio Boy (1971). He died on June 22, 1984.
