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America Iglesias Thatcher

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

América Iglesias Thatcher (November 4, 1907 – April 20, 1989) was a Puerto-Rican-American labor activist and the daughter of Puerto Rico's Resident Commissioner Santiago Iglesias.

Early life

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Thatcher was the daughter of Puerto Rico's Resident Commissioner Santiago Iglesias. She had seven sisters, named Libertad, Igualdad, Justicia, Paz, Luz, Fraternidad and Victory.[1][2] The unusual names of her sisters resulted in the family being featured in Ripley's Believe it or Not.[3][1]

Career

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Thatcher served as a crypto-analyst during World War II and later became an interpreter and translator in the Los Angeles court system.[3] She founded the International Translation Bureau in 1947.[3]

She worked as a translator in the office of American Federation of Labor President William Green, and also worked for the Pan-American Union. She was also the secretary for the Central Spanish Relief Committee for Republican Spain.[3]

She worked as staff for Rose Pesotta[4] and helped organise garment workers.[2] Correspondence between Pesotta and Thatcher was widely cited in Elaine Leeder's 1993 book The Gentle General: Rose Pesotta, Anarchist and Labor Organizer.[5]

Death

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She died in Los Angeles, aged 81.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "America Dies". Jet Magazine. 15 May 1989. p. 37.
  2. ^ a b Erman, Sam (2018). Almost Citizens: Puerto Rico, the U.S. Constitution, and Empire. Cambridge University Press. p. 262. ISBN 9781108244732. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d "America Thatcher; Crypto-Analyst, Linguist". Los Angeles Times. 1989-04-23. Retrieved 2022-04-04.
  4. ^ Pesotta, R. (1987). Bread upon the waters. United States: ILR Press. p374
  5. ^ Elaine Leeder (1993). The Gentle General: Rose Pesotta, Anarchist and Labor Organizer. SUNY Press. p. 193.