Edna Cisneros (later Edna Cisneros Carroll; 1930-2013) was
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
’ first Mexican American female lawyer.
Cisneros was born on February 2, 1930, in
Raymondville, Texas, to grocer Manuel Cisneros and Benita de la Garza. She earned her
Bachelor of Business Administration (1952) from the University of Texas and a
Bachelor of Laws
Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...
(1955) upon attending the university’s law school.
In 1955, she became the first Hispanic female admitted to practice law in Texas. Her sister Diana Cisneros Klefisch also became an attorney the following year. Cisneros initially joined a criminal law firm before launching a successful campaign in 1956 to become the
District Attorney
In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...
of
Willacy County
Willacy County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 20,164. Its county seat is Raymondville. The county was created in 1911 and organized the next year.
Willacy County comprises the Raymondville m ...
(a position that she held for approximately thirty years). Thus, Cisneros achieved another historical feat by becoming the first Hispanic female to serve as a district attorney in Texas. Since Diana also became a prosecutor, there was various cases in which the sisters represented opposing sides. In 1959, Cisneros married Charles Ernest Carroll. She died on July 26, 2013, in
Harlingen, Texas
Harlingen ( ) is a city in Cameron County in the central region of the Rio Grande Valley of the southern part of the U.S. state of Texas, about from the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The city covers more than and is the second-largest city in ...
.
See also
*
List of first women lawyers and judges in Texas
This is a list of the first women lawyer(s) and judge(s) in Texas. It includes the year in which the women were admitted to practice law (in parentheses). Also included are women who achieved other distinctions such becoming the first in their stat ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cisneros, Edna
Texas lawyers
20th-century American women lawyers
American lawyers of Mexican descent
1930 births
2013 deaths
People from Willacy County, Texas
University of Texas alumni
20th-century American lawyers
21st-century American women lawyers
21st-century American lawyers