May 2, 2016 Cecilia García Akers Discusses Biography of Her Father, Héctor García

Cecilia García Akers shares her memories and discusses her father’s legacy in her new biography, “The Inspiring Life of Texan Héctor P. García” (The History Press, 2016), at the Library of Congress on Friday, May 20 at noon in the Whittall Pavilion, located on the ground floor of the Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First St. S.E., Washington, D.C.

The program, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the Library’s Veterans History Project (VHP), in collaboration with the Library of Congress Office of Equal Employment Opportunity and Diversity Programs.

A recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, along with several other distinctions and decorations, the Mexican-born American civil-rights pioneer Dr. Héctor P. García is remembered as a father, physician, surgeon and tireless champion for equality, education and voting rights. In 1948, García, a World War II veteran, founded the American G.I. Forum, a group initially aimed at promoting veterans’ rights. Under his leadership, it played a key role in the American civil-rights movement, resulting in important victories in Texas and throughout the nation. While leading the civil-rights struggle, García continued to serve as a medical doctor in Corpus Christi, providing care to those in greatest need.

Following her book talk, Akers will present VHP staff with a collection of original photographs that belonged to her father, which will be deposited into the permanent collections of the Library of Congress Veterans History Project.

Congress created the Veterans History Project in 2000 to collect, preserve and make accessible the first-hand remembrances of America’s war veterans from WWI through the current conflicts, so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war. For more information, visit loc.gov/vets/ or call the toll-free message line at (888) 371-5848. Subscribe to the VHP RSS to receive periodic updates of VHP news.

The Library of Congress, the largest library in the world, holds more than 162 million items in various languages, disciplines and formats. The Library serves the U.S. Congress and the nation both on-site in its reading rooms on Capitol Hill and through its website at loc.gov.