Since the early 1970s, Mexican American attorney and activist Vilma Martinez (born 1943) has been a leading advocate for the civil rights of Hispanic Americans, especially at the ballot box.

Growing up as a Mexican American in Texas during the 1940s and 1950s, Vilma Martinez experienced the effects of racial prejudice firsthand. Later, also because of her ethnicity, she was discouraged from trying to obtain a college education, but she ultimately graduated from a distinguished law school. While still in her twenties, she participated in an important civil rights case that came before the U.S. Supreme Court. Martinez subsequently served for nearly a decade as head of one of the most prominent advocacy organizations in the country. More recently, her work as a lawyer in private practice has focused on resolving labor disputes.

Vilma Martinez was born in San Antonio, Texas, in 1943. As a Mexican American, she was...