América Iglesias Thatcher (November 4, 1907 – April 20, 1989) was a Puerto-Rican-American

labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

activist and the daughter of Puerto Rico's

Resident Commissioner Resident commissioner was or is an official title of several different types of commissioners, who were or are representatives of any level of government. Historically, they were appointed by the British Crown in overseas protectorates (such a ...

Santiago Iglesias Santiago Iglesias Pantín (February 22, 1872 – December 5, 1939), was a Spanish-born Puerto Rican socialist and trade union activist. Iglesias is best remembered as a leading supporter of statehood for Puerto Rico, and as the Resident Commiss ...

Early life

Thatcher was the daughter of Puerto Rico's

. She had seven sisters, named Libertad, Igualdad, Justicia, Paz, Luz, Fraternidad and Victory. The unusual names of her sisters resulted in the family being featured in

Ripley's Believe it or Not ''Ripley's Believe It or Not!'' is an American franchise founded by Robert Ripley, which deals with bizarre events and items so strange and unusual that readers might question the claims. Originally a newspaper panel, the ''Believe It or Not'' ...

Career

Thatcher served as a crypto-analyst during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and later became an interpreter and translator in the Los Angeles court system. She founded the International Translation Bureau in 1947. She worked as a translator in the office of

American Federation of Labor The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL-CIO. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutual ...

President William Green, and also worked for the

Pan-American Union The Organization of American States (OAS or OEA; ; ; ) is an international organization founded on 30 April 1948 to promote cooperation among its member states within the Americas. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, the OAS is ...

. She was also the secretary for the Central Spanish Relief Committee for Republican Spain. She worked as staff for Rose Pesotta and helped organise garment workers. Correspondence between Pesotta and Thatcher was widely cited in Elaine Leeder's 1993 book ''The Gentle General: Rose Pesotta, Anarchist and Labor Organizer.''

Death

She died in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, aged 81.

References

1907 births 1989 deaths {{US-activist-stub