RIP Activist Alice McGrath dies

[sce56]

Alice McGrath, a prominent political activist who fought against injustice for decades, died Friday in Ventura at 92.


The Ventura resident died at Community Memorial Hospital after developing a major infection, her daughter, Laura D’Auri, said Friday.

McGrath is best known for her work in overturning murder verdicts against a dozen Mexican-American youths convicted in 1942 for the killing of a Mexican national in Los Angeles in what became known as the Sleepy Lagoon case. She helped fund a hospital in Nicaragua, worked to create a pro bono system for people who couldn’t afford attorneys, and recently had been involved with an advocacy group that sued over treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.
Recently she was honored with a lifetime achievement award from the Mexican American Bar Association of Ventura County. Latino activist David Rodriguez said her work in the Sleepy Lagoon case was inspirational during that segregated era.

“It meant a victory among many, many defeats,” he said.

The case came to light again in 1978 with the opening of Luis Valdez’s play, “Zoot Suit.” The play and a subsequent film featured a character based on McGrath’s involvement in the case.
’m very saddened to hear about Alice,” said District Attorney Greg Totten. “I adored her.”

While they weren’t alike in their political persuasions, McGrath helped Totten in his first run for district attorney, introducing him to people whom he might not otherwise have met, he said.
What made her remarkable was her defense of the most needy and downtrodden, he said.
“Alice was that person who never stopped caring for them, never stopped being a champion for those who struggle every day,” he said.

Carlos Lozano, a close friend and journalist, said McGrath leaves behind a lot of broken hearts.

“She was truly a Ventura County treasure, someone who played a major role in one of California’s landmark civil rights cases,” said Lozano, a former editor of the Los Angeles Times’ Ventura County edition. “She once told me, ‘I may not have changed the world, but I’ve lived a life I feel good about.’”

A sad day as my family knew her personally!

[Dennis Donovan]

1. Cross gently, Alice and thank you for your tireless efforts.

...and my condolences to you sce56.:hug:

[sce56]

2. Thank you one more picture from LA Times

In "Zoot Suit"



Alice McGrath's role in the infamous trial was celebrated in Luis Valdez's play "Zoot Suit," which debuted at the Mark Taper Theater Forum in 1978 and was made into a movie in 1981.

[snagglepuss]

3. What a remarkable and wonderful person. RIP Alice. Thank you for posting this.

It is worthwhile to live
and fight courageously
for sacred ideals.

O blow ye evil winds
into my body's fire
my soul you'll never unravel.

Even though disappointed a thousand times
or fallen in the fight
and everything would worthless seem,

I have lived amidst eternity --
Be grateful, my soul --
My life was worth living.

He who was pressed from all sides
but remained victorious in spirit
is welcomed into the choir of heroes.

He who overcame the fetters
giving wings to his mind
is entering into the golden age of
the victorious.

- Norbert Capek

composed in Dresden Prison in 1941, shortly before he was transferred to Dachau concentration camp, where he died in October, 1942