Leonor Villegas was born in Mexico and educated in the U. S. In 1901 she married an American citizen, Adolfo Magnón and the couple had three children. A teacher by profession, Villegas de Magnón wrote articles in support of the rebels in the Mexican Revolution for the newspaper, La Crónica. Dedicated to fomenting unity among Mexican Americans, the paper stressed issues of civil and economic rights. Villegas de Magnón witnessed atrocities on the American and the Mexican sides during the Mexican Revolution [1910]. The battle of Nuevo Laredo inspired women to cross the border to aid the wounded. This event led to Villegas de Magnón’s creation of the Cruz Blanca – the White Cross – patterned after the American Red Cross. She organized a core of 25 nurses who crossed the border and joined Carranza’s army. Eventually, they accompanied the army in their triumphant march into Mexico City. Villegas de Magnón attempted to serialize her wartime exploits but failed to find a publisher. In 1994 her memoirs appeared in print as her autobiography, The Rebel.

LINKS
The Handbook of Texas Online University of Texas at Austin Cimacnoticias Las Tejanas: 300 Years of History Gender on the Borderlands: The Frontiers Reader Images