Adelfa Botello Callejo: Difference between revisions

'''Adelfa Botello Callejo''' (June 10, 1923 –– January 25, 2014) was an American lawyer and civil rights activist of [[Mexico|Mexican]] descent.

The daughter of Felix Botello and Guadalupe Guerra, she was born '''Adelfa Botello''' in [[Millett, Texas]] and was educated at Cotulla High School. Her father was born in Mexico; her mother, also of Mexican descent, was born in Texas. Callejo moved to [[Dallas]] in 1939 with her family and began taking night classes at [[Southern Methodist University]] (SMU). Near the end of [[World War II]], she moved to [[California]] to help her brother after he was wounded in the war. There she began an import-export business and met William "Bill" F. Callejo; the couple were married in Dallas around 1946. She resumed her night classes at SMU, completing a law degree in 1961, the first Hispanic woman to graduate in law from SMU's [[Dedman School of Law]]. She opened her own law office, becoming the first Mexican American woman to practice law in Dallas. After her husband completed a law degree, they established the law firm of Callejo and Callejo. In 1966, she was admitted to practice in the [[Supreme Court of the United States]].<ref name=news /><ref name=tsha />

She was co-founder of the Mexican-American Bar Association of Texas (later the Dallas Hispanic Bar Association), also serving as regional president of the [[Hispanic National Bar Association]]. Callejo was chairperson and founder of the Coalition of Hispanic Organizations. In 2012, she was named to the 50th Committee, charged with commemorating the 50th anniversary of the [[assassination of John F. Kennedy]]. She also served as president of the Dallas County Criminal Bar Association.<ref name=tsha /><ref name=ruiz />

She was involved in protests against the killing of Santos Rodriguez in [[Little_MexicoLittle Mexico#Pike_ParkPike Park|Pike Park]] in 1973 and against federal immigration policies in 2010. Callejo helped organize protests against the deportation of Mexican parents from [[Oak Cliff]] in 1982. She helped establish single member municipal electoral districts in Dallas which helped neighborhoods gain better representation at city hall; she also helped promote the development of a dropout prevention program in Dallas schools. She served on various boards including the Dsllas Housing Authority, Dallas Area Rapid Transit, Dallas County Mental Health and Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.<ref name=ruiz>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.ca/books?id=_62IjQ-XQScC&pg=PA111 |title=Latinas in the United States: A Historical Encyclopedia |pages=111-12 |last=Ruiz |first=Vicki L |author2=Korrol, Virginia Sánchez |year=2006 |ISBN=02531116920-253-11169-2}}</ref><ref name=tsha />

In 2004, Callejo and her husband donated over a million dollars to the SMU law school to establish the Adelfa Botello Callejo Leadership and Latino Studies Institute. With her husband, she was an officer of the Callejo-Botello Foundation.<ref name=smu />