Nina: Suffragist, educator, daughter of N.M.

Suffragist and educator Adelina Isabel Emilia Luna Otero is in the money. At least 25 cents worth of it. New Mexico’s Otero, who died in 1965, is in a select group. She is one of five celebrated American women whose accomplishments have landed them on a quarter as part of the American Women Quarters Program. Otero and others will be featured on the reverse of the quarter, with George Washington on the front, beginning this year. The program will run through 2025.

It’s elite company. The other 2022 choices are writer Maya Angelou, astronaut Sally Ride, Cherokee principal chief Wilma Mankiller and film star Anna May Wong.

The quarter featuring Otero will be fourth to be released this year, using her married name Otero-Warren. Like the community school in Santa Fe named after her, we choose to stick with her birth name, Otero. She and her husband, Rawson Warren, after all, were married less than two years. She left Fort Wingate, where he was stationed, and returned to Santa Fe.

Here, she became a leader in the battle for women’s right to vote, insisting that materials for women about voting be printed in both Spanish and English as she gained support for New Mexico to ratify the 19th Amendment. Her quarter reflects that emphasis — the words “Voto para la mujer” are alongside her image and yucca plants.

Suffrage was just one of her many interests. Many New Mexicans remember Otero for her work in education. She served as Santa Fe County superintendent of public schools from 1918 until 1929. As such, despite federal English-only requirements, Otero argued for education in Spanish and English. She also advocated for Indian schools, criticizing terrible conditions in the federally run schools.

Another first for this pioneering woman was her run for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1921. She won the Republican nomination but lost the general election. She also chaired the New Mexico Board of Health, served as an executive board member of the American Red Cross and directed an adult literacy program for the Works Projects Administration.

She and her longtime partner, Mamie Meadors, homesteaded a ranch called “Las Dos” (The Two Women) outside of Santa Fe. Later, they began a real estate and insurance company, also called Los Dos, in 1947. (You can read more about Otero and her life at nps.gov/people/nina-otero-warren.htm.)

In all, she lived a life of substance and purpose. With her upper-class family background, she could have lived a more traditional life, dedicating herself to family and society and not working outside the home.

Instead, she fought for suffrage, worked to educate Hispano and Native children, pushed to preserve the Spanish language, became active in politics and ran her own business. Such achievements make her a perfect fit for the quarter, along with the other women whose accomplishments otherwise might be overlooked.

By being placed on a quarter, the entire country now has the opportunity to meet this proud daughter of New Mexico.