Olivia “Evey” Chapa, a lifelong resident of Texas, was born in Alice. Growing up, her supportive family created the foundation for the love she has for other people. She comes from a financially stable family; her grandfather was a banker, her father a police officer, and her mother was a saleslady. The work ethic of her mother and father was well-developed. In her oral history interview, Evey discusses her parents’ family roles and collaboration with each other: “both of them working, both of them taking care of the children, daddy cooked, mama cooked, it didn’t matter, when things got done, they got done; didn’t matter who did it.” This work ethic emanating from her family helped build Olivia’s own determination to get to work.

The importance of education and learning was also stressed in her family. Evey’s mother made sure that her daughter went to a school on the figurative “right side of the tracks,” instead of her neighborhood school. This was because her mother did not want her daughter to have a Spanish accent, and it was obvious that the better-funded and higher-quality schools were in the Anglo neighborhoods. Evey loved learning and excelled in school all the way through her doctorate degree. This was a self-defining moment as she defied the statistics: the dropout rate for Mexican Americans was at sixty percent. Her passion for education continued to grow as she graduated from the University of Texas with honors, and she would later go on to receive masters and doctorate degrees as well.

She began her career in education working at the Southwest Education Laboratory as a writer and editor. She met Angie Moreno, who helped spark defiance in Evey as she learned about how farmworkers were being treated, leading her to help organize boycotts and marches. She then became involved with the Mexican American Youth Organization (MAYO), and especially the Raza Unida Party, a third political party created by Chicana/o movement activists to elect local and state representatives who would address minority concerns. She became chairperson of Raza Unida Party and worked to elect Ramsey Muñiz and Alma Canales as Governor and Lieutenant Governor through the Raza Unida Party. One of her priorities was to spread awareness of Chicana/o struggles through the process of political awareness.

She often tells people, “my mom had two girls; my sister had two girls, and I have two girls.” Understandably, she became known as a feminist because of her strong stand on Chicana rights, but she was not exclusively focused on this issue. While attending a Chicana conference, she believed that the women at the 1971 national Conferencia de Mujeres Por La Raza in Houston were trying to divide men and women by focusing on women’s rights. Refusing to divide the basic support for the family, she worked with MAYO, the Raza Unida Party, and any other place she could advocate for Chicana’s rights without excluding the family. Wherever there was work to be done for the Chicana movement, she was there. Evey believes in the importance of family and that the woman upholds the family. She believes in focusing on education, economy, and other issues that affect Chicanas and the family.

Today, she continues to work successfully in the classroom helping educate people and empowering students from many different backgrounds. She believes that education is power, and she wants students to make the most of their innate skills and the knowledge she provides. Doctora Chapa, as her students call her, stands for the rights of people telling her students often, “I am on your side.”