[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 5]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 7420-7421]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


                          HONORING TERESA LEAL

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. RAUL M. GRIJALVA

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 25, 2016

  Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and memory 
of Teresa Leal, a passionate historian and activist and curator of the 
Pimeria Alta Historical Society Museum. Teresa passed away on May 1, 
2016 in Nogales, Arizona at the place dearest to her, the museum at 
which she proudly worked for over 20 years.
  Teresa's roots are every bit as eclectic as our nation as a whole, 
with lineage tracing back to Mexican, Chinese and Opata native 
ancestors. Born in Navojoa, Sonora, she was raised in Tucson, Arizona, 
and attended Catalina High School. Teresa was only sixteen years old 
when she joined the United Farm Workers to educate female cotton 
workers on the risks they faced at their jobs. As a young girl, her 
mother, Isabel Leal, was a chef to the United States Ambassador to the 
court of St. James in Great Britain, Lewis Douglas, who later became 
Teresa's friend and mentor. Growing up, Teresa was fortunate to meet 
important figures in the reconstruction of the post-World War II world 
like John McCloy, the postwar High Commissioner of Germany. After 
graduation she enrolled at the University of San Carlos in Guatemala 
where she studied social anthropology. Teresa later came back to 
Nogales, Sonora where she spent the rest of her life.
  In 1986, Teresa founded the women's group known as Proyecto Comadres, 
where she addressed labor, environmental, and civil rights issues 
concerning women who labored at the ``maquiladoras'' in Nogales, 
Sonora. As the group's membership grew they expanded their efforts to 
include women who faced domestic violence and economic or family 
struggles. At

[[Page 7421]]

the same time she served as a substitute teacher in Mexico. Teresa also 
worked with the Binational Health Council to examine health issues 
affecting both sides of the Nogales border, as well as the 
nongovernmental organization Gente de I'itoi in Sonora, where she 
trained indigenous women as health educators throughout the Yaqui, Seri 
and Tohono tribes. Teresa was the grantee recipient from the Southwest 
Network for Environmental and Economic Justice and also a member of the 
National Advisory Council for the North American Commission for 
Environmental Cooperation.
  Teresa was also a freelance journalist, working with La Voz Del Norte 
newspaper in Sonora from 1984-1989 and the Nogales International 
Newspaper, among several other publications. Teresa ended her career as 
the curator of Pimeria Alta Historical Society Museum, where family, 
friends, and colleagues remembered her as a selfless person committed 
to keeping local history alive.
  Southern Arizona and the borderlands will miss Teresa Leal's passion, 
sense of justice, and love of her community. Teresa leaves a living 
legacy of leadership, empowerment, and a commitment to social and 
economic justice. This legacy will continue to make all of us better 
and our community a better place.




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