Dallas “Dally” Willis was born in 1920 in Dallas, Texas but grew up in Cleburne, Texas, raised by a single mother of seven children after his father abandoned the family. Willis attended high school in Cleburne and joined the Marine Corps in 1941. In the Marine Corps, Willis worked as an aerial photographer mapping the Pacific territories controlled by Japan. Upon returning to Cleburne, Willis worked for Southwestern Bail and joined the Communication Workers of America union. He moved to Midland, Texas in 1949. From 1961 to 2005 he served within the CWA’s Political and Legislative Committee, lobbying in the Texas Legislature. Dally also began the Labor Day Celebration of the Permian Basin in 1957. He has been a delegate for the DNC convention and was the decades long president of the Permian Basin Central Labor Union.

Isabel Jimenez was born in 1953 in Slanton, Texas. Her family moved to Midland, Texas and she attended De Zavala Elementary (the “Mexican” school), Austin Junior High, and graduated from Midland High School in 1971. Jimenez attended Austin College in Sherman, Texas for one year, then Midland College, and the University of Texas—Permian Basin, which she eventually graduated from in 1987 with a degree in Spanish. Beginning in 1976, Jimenez worked for Southwest Bell. She joined LULAC in the 1970s due to police brutality against Mexican Americans, not wanting her own son to experience such brutality. Jimenez was part of LULAC single member districts at the county, city, school district, and community college levels. Jimenez also participated in the Southwest Voter Registration Project, taught as a bilingual education teacher, and is now a counselor at Midland College.

Lydia Evaro Madrigal was born in Odessa, Texas in 1957 and grew up in the majority minority area of south Odessa. She attended Zavala Elementary, Travis Elementary, Ector County Junior High and High School, and transferred to Permian Basin high school for the higher level of academic classes. Madrigal graduated from high school in 1975. She then attended Odessa College, and began working in a local television station due to a suit by attorney Richard Abalos due to the lack of people of color in that television station. She initially reported on the Larry Lozano case and saw the bias of the local media against Lozano and his family. Madrigal had been part political campaigns since she was thirteen and was offered a job at the Texas House of Representatives while in college. Eventually, she graduated from the University of Texas-Permian Basin 1989 after having attended Southwestern Texas State University. Madrigal has been the Latino outreach coordinator for the DNC in Washington D.C., has worked to make Odessa College a Hispanic Serving Institution, and is now a business owner in Odessa and Midland, Texas.

Fay Batch was born and raised in Fairfield, New Jersey. Her parents were social justice advocates with various organizations, including the NAACP. As a child and teenager, she participated in various rallies and joined picket lines in chain stores to challenge segregation. Upon graduating from high school, Batch attended the University of Southern California from 1975-1979. After graduating from the USC, she moved to the Midland-Odessa area with her husband, also a USC graduate, who was originally from the area. In Midland, Batch began registering African American voters in the east side of the city. Batch was elected to the Ector County ISD Board of Trustees, where she served from 2000 to 2013. In this position, she had a vital role in helping more fully integrate ECISD schools. As an School District Trustee, from 2000-2013, Batch helped oversee the school system reach unitary status under a federal court.

Robbyne Hacker Fuller was born in Clarksville, Texas in 1943. She attended schools in Clarksville through 5th grade until her family moved to Midland, Texas. She graduated from African American Carver High School in Midland in 1961. She attended San Angelo Jr. College, Odessa College, and graduated from Midland College with an associate’s degree. In 1964 she became the first African American women to sale real estate in Midland. She retired from Texas Instruments and was a major part of founding the Midland African American Chamber of Commerce. She is now the CEO of the Midland African American Roots Historical/Cultural Arts Council. She played a major role with the NAACP and other organizations in attempting to desegregate Midland ISD. James Fuller was born in San Angelo, Texas in 1942. Schools in San Angelo integrated in 1955 while Fuller attended them. He graduated in 1960 from San Angelo’s Central High School. He graduated from San Angelo Jr. College in 1963, North Texas State University in 1966, and from Texas Tech University in 1974 with an MA in English. Fuller taught in Lubbock schools before joining the faculty of Midland College in Midland, Texas. He has been on the board of trustees …

Luis D. Sánchez was born in Midland, Texas in 1978. His parents originated from the Ojinaga area of the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Sánchez grew up in majority-minority, south Midland. He attended Travis Elementary, Long Elementary, Alamo Junior High, and Midland High School. After high school, Sánchez obtained his associates degree, while working two jobs, in government from Midland College in 2000. In 2002 he obtained his bachelors in political since from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. After college, Sánchez worked for the Texas Secretary of State in Austin. When he moved back to Midland, he quickly became involved in local electoral politics, eventually running for office himself in 2003. He is now a city council member representing south Midland.

Felipa Lara was born in Pecos Texas in 1946. In Pecos, she went to East Pecos Junior High and Pecos High School. All her schooling up to high school was within segregated schools. Lara married at seventeen and moved to Midland in 1962. In Midland, Felipa worked for the school district, particularly in the district’s migrant program. When LULAC was founded in Midland (1985), Lara joined the group as LULAC sued for single member districts at the county, city, school board, and college board levels. Overall, Lara worked within social services for Midland Independent school district for twenty-seven years. Lara also participated in anti-police brutality alongside Brown Berets in Midland during the 1990s.

Rogelio “Roger” Robles was born in San Antonio, Texas in 1929 and grew up in both Laredo and Lampazos, Nuevo Leon. Robles graduated from Martin High School in Laredo in 1948; he then briefly moved to New York City before he was drafted into the Korean War. After returning from the Korean War, Robles attended Midland College and graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1960. He permanently moved to Midland to work within the Guadalupe Youth Service Center that same year. While in this job, Robles formed a parent’s organization in order to raise money for student scholarships to attend college. After leaving this job, Robles founded several small businesses and then began working a life insurance agent. Robles later became a real estate agent before running successfully to become a trustee of Midland Independent School District, becoming the first Mexican American to win a spot in the board. Robles helped started the Midland Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

George Lara was born (1966) in Ector County, Texas but raised in Midland County, Texas. Lara began school as Midland Independent School District was integrated and graduated in 1984 from Lee High School. He has worked in Lara’s Automotive, founded by his father in 1970, since 1984. George Lara took over the small, family owned business in 1988. Lara ran for the Midland ISD Board of Trustees and won in 1999. Lara served as a Trustee for ten years and was part of the board when Midland ISD received unitary status.

Rachel Stone, the daughter of Felipa Lara, was born and raised in Midland, Texas. She attended Travis Elementary in the city’s minority majority south side, Alamo Junior High, and graduated from Midland High School in 1984. After high school, Stone worked for the FDIC and then began to work for the Midland Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, where she has been for twenty-four years; she is now the CEO/Director of the chamber. Stone has also served on committees for Midland Independent School District.