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Biography:
Ms. de los Santos was born in 1948 in Edinburg, Texas. She is a graduate of Pan American University (1982) and the University of Houston law school. She served with Valley Interfaith from 1983 to 1986, was elected to the Edinburg City Council in 1994 (re-elected 1996 and 1999) and maintains a private law practice in Edinburg.
Interview Summary:
Ms. de los Santos discusses campaigning for Edinburg city council and her council service. She relates the frustrations associated with getting bond packages passed for financing improvements in Edinburg, and lists her greatest accomplishment while serving on the city council as the successful creation of committees to study and recommend what Edinburg should be in the year 2020. She talks about how she became interested in politics and describes some of her early political experiences helping her father campaign for candidates. Ms. de los Santos describes discrimination against women political candidates and sheds light on politics in Edinburg, in particular how difficult it proved for Mexican American and Anglo women to work together. She touches upon her involvement with the Mexican American Democrats and La Raza Unida Party (which she credits with helping women by providing opportunities for leadership), details her activities with Valley Interfaith (an Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) organization), discusses her return to the classroom in 1988 to pursue a law degree, and describes her early law career. Ms. de los Santos reveals her love of the practice of law and her commitment to helping the less fortunate.
Locations of residence or activity:
Edinburg
Interview Date:
6/17/1998