[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 147 (Tuesday, November 29, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: November 29, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                              GINNY MONTES

                                 ______


                            HON. DON EDWARDS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 29, 1994

  Mr. EDWARDS of California. Mr. Speaker, the annual meeting of the 
Southern Regional Council--SRC--was held in Atlanta, GA, from November 
17 to 19 of this year. The meeting was dedicated to Ms. Virginia E. 
(Ginny) Montes who died of a stroke on October 6, 1994.
  Ginny's longstanding friendship with me and the members and staff of 
the Subcommittee on Civil and Constitutional Rights began during the 
1981 deliberations on extension of the Voting Rights Act. That 
friendship continued until the day she died.
  Ginny was a warrior for equal justice; an Amazon, who ironically was 
under 5 feet tall. Her wise counsel and camaraderie will be greatly 
missed. This eulogy from SRC eloquently captures the essence of this 
warrior-woman.

       We dedicate this annual meeting to Virginia E. (Ginny) 
     Montes, whose life and activism reflected the values for 
     which we work. A senior consultant in voting rights at the 
     Council at the time of her death, Ginny led work across the 
     South and the nation on civil rights, poverty, and women's 
     issues for more than three decades. She died of a stroke 
     October 6, 1994.
       Born in Honduras, Ginny began her activism at the 
     University of Florida as president of Gainesville Women for 
     Equal Rights. She helped develop the University's first 
     women's studies program and following graduation, was active 
     in promoting student achievement and directed a youth job 
     training program. ``I was always impressed with how 
     absolutely firm she was with her values, even as a very young 
     woman, as a student at the University of Florida,'' says SRC 
     Executive Committee member Jean Chalmers.
       Ginny moved to Atlanta in 1980 to work for SRC as director 
     of legislative research. During her 14-year association with 
     the Council, she assisted in developing legislative analysis 
     on issues relating to civil rights, poverty, children and 
     housing. She also helped black legislators in the southern 
     states as they organized legislative caucuses. She played a 
     key role in extending the federal Voting Rights Act in 1982, 
     and later became director of Project 1990 and director of SRC 
     Voting Rights Programs.
       During the mid-1980's, as director of the Georgia Housing 
     Coalition, she initiated the analysis of lending patterns in 
     Atlanta that led to the Pulitzer prize-winning Atlanta 
     Constitution series on the discriminatory nature of bank 
     lending practices.
       From 1990-1993 she served as national secretary for the 
     National Organization for Women (NOW), the first Latina to 
     hold the post. She also served as Georgia State president for 
     NOW, as well as government liaison officer and chief lobbyist 
     for the national organization.
       Ginny also served on the national board of directors of the 
     Center for Community Change, the National Community 
     Reinvestment Coalition, the Advisory Council of Morehouse 
     Medical School, and as a delegate to the Democratic National 
     Convention in 1978, '80, '84 and '88. She was named to Who's 
     Who Among Hispanic Americans and Who's Who in American 
     Politics.
       One of Ginny's many strengths was the ability to work with 
     and bring together very diversive people. Says Chalmers: 
     ``She was warm instant friends with the very rich and the 
     very poor, with people of all races and religions.''
       ``Ginny embodies the best qualities of democracy, a 
     principle about which she cared deeply,'' says SRC Director 
     Steve Suits. ``She enlarged the capacity of others to promote 
     the common good while seeking no credit for herself. She was 
     a democrat and a Democrat; an integrationist and a Latina; an 
     ardent feminist and a great mom; an American who loved our 
     best principles and a Southerner who fought fiercely against 
     the nation's worst nature.''
       She is survived by her daughter, Rebecca Lynne Albury, her 
     mother, and five siblings. Contributions may be made to the 
     Virginia E. Montes Memorial Fund, in care of her sister 
     Greata Montes, 910 Ivycroft Road, Wayne, Pennsylvania 19087.

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