13, 2015 Points of Light Monument Organization reveals its next recipient will be Dr. Héctor P. García, January 15, 2016 Legacy As one of the early leaders of the Hispanic civil rights, García's activities foreshadowed much of the struggle of the Chicano Movement. As a figure of national and international prominence, the effects of his life have been felt at all levels of society, from the poor barrios that he fought to improve, to the highest echelons of government. The end of the 1950s desegregated Texan hotels, cinemas, and restaurants. Beauty parlors and barbershops were desegregated in the 1960s, with cemeteries and swimming pools not being opened to Mexican Americans until the 1970s. In the realm of popular culture, in 1950, Pulitzer Prize winner Edna Ferber interviewed García to get a sense of the Mexican American experience in Texas. She later wrote the 1952 novel Giant, basing some of the incidents in the work on her interview. The book was later turned into a 1956 film starring James Dean, Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, and Dennis Hopper. In 1985, the Dr. Héctor Pérez García Endowed Chair was created at Yale University. In 1988, the main branch of the Corpus Christi post office was renamed in his honor. In 1996, a statue of him was dedicated at Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. In 1999, his image was placed on the US Treasury's $75 I Bond series honoring great Americans. In 2002, public television station KEDT in Corpus Christi, Texas, produced a documentary on him entitled "Justice for my People: The Dr. Hector P. Garcia Story". The program was broadcast nationally on PBS. Under Senate Bill 495, signed on May 30, 2009, by the governor of Texas, the state of Texas established the third Wednesday of each September as "Dr. Hector P. Garcia Texas State Recognition Day". In April 2010, the US House of Representatives passed H.CON.RES.222, recognizing the leadership and historical contributions of Dr. Héctor García to the Hispanic community and his remarkable efforts to combat racial and ethnic discrimination in the US. References Bibliography García, Ignacio M. Hector P. García: In Relentless Pursuit of Justice. Houston: Arte Publico Press (2002). Ramos, Henry. The American GI Forum: In Pursuit of the Dream, 1948-1983. Houston: Arte Publico Press (1998). Garcia-Akers, Cecilia. "The Inspiring Life of Texan Hector P. Garcia". Charleston: The History Press (2016). External links The Hector P. Garcia papers at the Bell