alatorre

Born in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, Alatorre revealed little indication of her skills until she was a young woman living in California. She immigrated to the United States with her husband and sister at the age of twenty-seven, and settled in the San Fernando Valley. She landed a job as a bathing suit model in Los Angeles, an opportunity that led to establishing relations with garment workers, mediating between the union rank and file, as well as the garment industry manufacturers. Before long, Alatorre became affiliated with The Teamsters, The Maritime Union, The United Auto Workers, and the United Farm Workers. A prominent activist in the Chicano Civil Rights movement, she helped to establish El Centro de Acción Social Autónomo Hermandad General de Trabajadores (CASA) in 1968. Surrounded by leading figures in the Chicano movement like Bert Corona, Alatorre was vital to CASA’s involvement in immigrant services and rights issues. Responsible for CASA’s administration, Alatorre continues to maintain a “behind-the-scenes” profile in the Chicano/Latino communities of southern California.