García, Genaro (1867–1920)

Genaro García (b. 17 August 1867; d. 26 November 1920), Mexican politician, women's rights advocate, and historian. Born in Fresnillo, Zacatecas, García first attended school in San Luis Potosí but continued his studies in the capital, where he received a degree in law. He served as a congressional deputy for several terms; as governor of Zacatecas (1900–1904); as director of the National Museum of Archaeology, History, and Ethnology; and as director of the National Preparatory School.

García published many didactic works. From his Desigualdad de la mujer (1891) and Apuntes sobre la condición de la mujer (1891), arguing for greater rights for women, to his Carácter de la conquista española en América y en México (1901), presenting a pro-Indian perspective, García consistently was ahead of his time. However, he is best known as the editor of the thirty-six-volume Documentos inéditos o muy raros para la historia de México (1905–1911), and seven-volume Documentos históricos mexicanos (1901–1911), and Documentos inéditos del siglo XVI para la historia de México (1914). His library of twenty-five-thousand volumes and manuscripts forms the heart of the Mexican holdings of the Benson Latin American Collection at the University of Texas in Austin.

See alsoLibraries in Latin America; Mexico: 1810–1910.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Roderic A. Camp, Mexican Political Biographies, 1884–1935 (1991).

Additional Bibliography

Macías, Anna. Against All Odds: The Feminist Movement in Mexico to 1940. Westport, Ct: Greenwood Press, 1982.

                               Carmen Ramos-EscandÓn