By Anna Daniels

Maria Garcia Day in the City of San Diego
Tuesday December 5, 2017
202 C Street (12th floor)
10 am (sharp)

Photo by Manuel Cavada

San Diego Free Press writer, educator, activist and historian Maria Garcia will be recognized for her positive contributions to the Latina(o) community on Tuesday, December 5.  District 8 Councilmember David Alvarez invites Maria’s readers, supporters and friends to this special event.

Maria was recently recognized by The San Diego Union-Tribune which selected the retired school-principal and longtime Chicana activist as a Latino Champion. She received a prestigious Governor’s Historic Preservation Award for her book “La Neighbor.” On the same day that she received the Governor’s Award in Sacramento, she flew back to San Diego just in time to receive the Citizen of the Year Award from the San Diego Chapter of Phi Delta Kappa, the professional educational honor association.

Our congratulations to Maria!

Maria Garcia Day
Presented by
Councilmember David Alvarez

WHEREAS, Maria Garcia was born in Yuma, Arizona and came to
San Diego at the age of 3; and

WHEREAS, Maria Garcia is an educator, Chicana activist, and retired
principal that has been active in the Greater Logan Heights community
since 1968; and

WHEREAS, Ms. Garcia created a weekly series called “The History
of Neighborhood House in San Diego” published in the San Diego
Free Press, where she recorded first person accounts about the
Neighborhood House and life in Logan Heights and Barrio Logan in
the early 1900’s; and

WHEREAS, in her writing, Ms. Garcia describes the Neighborhood
House which served as a settlement house since the 1920s, where
working class individuals could access social services, cultural
activities and community-building opportunities; and

WHEREAS, Ms. Garcia has reflected the significance and impact of
the Latino community in San Diego and has filled a historical gap
through her memories by detailing life in Barrio Logan and Logan
Heights; and

WHEREAS, through her work, Ms. Garcia brought light to the social
issues from San Diego’s early history and to the people involved; and

WHEREAS Ms. Garcia highlighted the many contributions that were
made by Mexican-Americans during WWII and their significance in
the aircraft and fishing industries of the San Diego region; and

WHEREAS Ms. Garcia continues to be a voice for the Latino
community as she is currently writing a new monthly series called
“Latinos in San Diego” that portrays the life of Latinos in the region;

NOW, THEREFORE

BE IT PROCLAIMED, by the Council of the City of San Diego, that
this Council, for and on behalf of the people of San Diego, does hereby
proclaim December 5th, 2017 as Maria Garcia Day in the City of San
Diego.

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Anna Daniels

I left a moribund Western Pennsylvania mill town the year that Richard M. Nixon was not impeached for crimes against the American people, and set off in search of truth, beauty, justice and a beat I could dance to. Here I am.

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