American GI Forum
date: label: date made
content: ca 2020
notes: label: Description
content: Lawrence (Larry) Romo, National Commander of the American GI Forum, a Latino veterans civil rights organization, wore this cap at a wreath-laying ceremony in honor of Mexican American World War II Private Felix Longoria at Arlington National Cemetery on Veterans Day (November 11), 2018. Longoria, who was Mexican American, had been killed in the Philippines during World War II. When his family sought to bury his remains at a cemetery in his hometown of Three Rivers, Texas, the director of a local funeral home refused to allow the family to use its chapel on discriminatory grounds.
label: Description
content: The American GI Forum was established in 1948 by Dr. Hector P. Garcia, a veteran World War II Army veteran and civil rights activist. In 1949, the organization gained prominence when it drew attention to what became known as the Longoria Affair, and in response to Garcia’s advocacy in the case, Senator Lyndon Johnson arranged for Longoria to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
label: Description
content: Before becoming National Commander of the American GI Forum in 2018, Romo, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, served as director of the Selective Service in the Obama Administration.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Philanthropy
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2020.0084.1
label: accession number
content: 2020.0084
label: catalog number
content: 2020.0084.1
objectType: label: Object Name
content: hat
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: dacron, wool (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 13.5 cm x 29.5 cm x 2 cm; 5 5/16 in x 11 5/8 in x 25/32 in