In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, the Northwest Reading Room curated six biographies of Latino(a) individuals from our Valley who have made positive and lasting contributions to the community at large. We invite you to read the following brief biographies of people whose visionary legacies continue today.
Below is Part 1 featuring three community leaders: Tomás Villanueva, Herminia Mendez, and Ernest Ignacio Jose Aguilar. Stay tuned for Part 2 highlighting the lives of Ricardo Garcia, The Guzman Family, and Erasmo Gamboa.
Tomás Villanueva
“Tireless advocate” – Anytime you read or hear about Tomás Villanueva, this is the phrase people use to describe him. Tomás Villanueva was a tireless advocate for those who did the hardest labor on farms. He pushed for their inclusion under minimum wage laws and unemployment insurance, and he was a founding member of the Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic. He helped direct enormous sums of federal and state money toward housing and feeding those workers. In a 1968 Toppenish Review article, he expressed “[These are people who] share in the nation’s responsibilities and who pay taxes, but who do not reap the benefits shared by a majority of Americans.”
Villanueva was born in Monterrey, Mexico and moved to Toppenish in 1957. Inspired from a visit to California’s most famous labor and civil rights leader, Cesar Chavez, he fought for worker housing in Washington where he observed workers sleeping outside in sleeping bags. He succeeded in his demands that local farm workers gain access to shelter, toilets, and water.
Villanueva started a food cooperative and led wildcat strikes to improve conditions. He always stressed that these workers started from such an unfair and impoverished level that they had nothing to lose by demanding justice for their work. Tomás Villanueva passed away in 2014 at the age of 72 and was remembered with glowing popularity for the work he did to improve the lives of others.
Herminia Mendez
Herminia Mendez, who originally hailed from Eagle Pass, Texas, relocated to Sunnyside, WA in 1943. In Sunnyside, she became part of a thriving Latinx community that was grappling with inadequate resources, substandard living conditions, and prejudice (Washington Women, 2020). In the 1950s, she began making appearances on live radio shows at KREW in Sunnyside. This 15-minute broadcast was the first commercial radio program of its kind in Yakima and the Pacific Northwest. With her self-taught and quick-paced broadcasting voice, Mendez quickly expanded it into a daily hour-long program. (RevisitWa, 2023).
Mendez was a true trailblazer in Latino radio and media entertainment; she aired popular music, advertised employment opportunities, and promoted important social occasions and milestones to the expanding Yakima community (Gamboa, 2021). The emergence of Spanish radio shows on KREW, like the debut of “El Ranchito,” indicated the increasing influence of the Latino communities in Yakima County. Mendez, the host, was endorsed by several local Latino-oriented establishments, such as C. Speck Motors in Sunnyside and El Ranchito in Zillah. Additionally, Mendez had the support of prominent national corporations, including Olympia Beer Company, J.C. Penny, Safeway Grocery, and Sears, Roebuck and Company (RevisitWa, 2023).
“Ernie” Ernest Ignacio Jose Aguilar
When Ernest Aguilar was invited to Yakima Valley by local labor leaders in the mid-1960s, he was already a known and accomplished man through his distinguished military and police service as well as his advocacy work on behalf of the Latino community. Aguilar was the first Latino to run for office in Yakima County, seeking the County Commissioner District 2 position in 1968. Although he did not succeed, he was a strong community leader in many other ways with an impressive resume.
Aguilar served 20 years in the US Army and was a veteran of World War II, the Korean War, and Vietnam. He later became a Deputy Sheriff of Thurston County, and he was one of the original founders and first Chair of the Board of the Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic. Aguilar helped create the Washington State Commission on Hispanic Affairs; he founded the Washington State Catholic Hispanic Ministry, a part of Catholic Charities; and he created the Ernie Aguilar Scholarship Fund for the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business for Latino students seeking a Master of Business Administration. Aguilar helped create Centro Mexicano, an organization that promotes trade and educational exchange between Mexico and Washington State; and he was awarded the Ohtli Medal from the President of Mexico – which is the highest civilian honor Mexico awards to civilians – for his dedication to the advancement of the Mexican-American community.
Ernie Aguilar’s generous work ripples in its positive effects for the Latino and Yakima community today, and his children and grandchildren continue his legacy. Ernie Aguilar was 90 years old when he passed away in 2010. He was recognized by the Washington State Senate for his accomplishments on what would have been his 91st birthday, March 19th, 2010.
-Written by Carlos Pelley, Archive Librarian & Matt Kendall, Archive Librarian
For more fascinating stories archived in YVL’s Northwest Reading room, visit Yakima Central Library Monday – Friday, 9am – 6pm and Saturday by appointment. Learn more about this service online or email us at archives@yvl.org.
References:
Gamboa, E. (2021). Latino Past and Present. Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History. 35(1), 24. (2021). Washington State Historical Society.
Johnson, J. (2014) Tomas Villanueva: A life well spent fighting for dignity. The Stand. https://www.thestand.org/2014/06/a-life-well-spent-fighting-for-dignity/
Marmor, J. (June 2010), Ernest I.J. Aguilar, 1919-2010: Latino Trailblazer. Columns Magazine. https://www.washington.edu/alumni/columns/june10/obit-aguilar.html
Prengaman, K. (June 30, 2014) Villanueva transcended class, ethnicity with quiet passion. Yakima Herald-Republic. https://www.yakimaherald.com/news/local/villanueva-transcended-class-ethnicity-with-quiet-passion/article_180ea438-6692-5dbc-9755-0f59c4c89615.html
Revisit WA. (2023). KREW Radio Station (Pepe’s Bakery). https://revisitwa.org/waypoint/krew-radio-station-pepes-bakery/
Thane, B. (2014) Tomas Villanueva, advocate, activist, and champion for farmworkers. Washington Low Income Housing Alliance. https://www.wliha.org/blog/tomas-villanueva-advocate-activist-and-champion-farmworkers
Toppenish Review, September 26, 1968. “No Justice For Farm Workers”, page 2.
Washington Women [@WAStateWomen]. 2020, March 4. Originally from Eagle Pass, Texas, Herminia Mendez moved to Sunnyside, WA in 1943. There, she joined a vibrant and growing [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/wastatewomen/status/1235292250357235712