Josefa Jara Martinez
{{Short description|Philippine social worker, suffragist and civic leader}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2024}}{{Use Philippine English|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Josefa Jara Martinez
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1894|1|21}}
| birth_place = Iloilo, Captaincy General of the Philippines
| death_date =
| death_place = {{Death date and age|1987|04|24|1894|1|21}}
| occupation = Social worker, suffragist and civic leader
| children = 3, including Amelita Ramos
}}
Josefa Jara Martinez (January 21, 1894 – April 24, 1987) was a Filipino social worker, suffragist and civic leader.{{Cite journal |last=Almario |first=V. |title=Josefa Jara-Martinez |url=https://philippineculturaleducation-com-ph.translate.goog/jara-martinez-josefa/?_x_tr_sl=hu&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US&_x_tr_pto=wapp |journal=Sagisag Kultura |publisher=Manila: National Commission for Culture and the Arts |volume=1 |access-date=22 November 2024}}
Life
Martinez was born in Iloilo in 1894.{{Cite web |date=21 July 2010 |title=Josefa Martinez on Stamps |url=https://vincemd.blogspot.com/2010/07/josefa-jara-martinez-b.html |access-date=22 November 2024 |website=The Anthem Philatelist |archive-date=December 2, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241202201639/https://vincemd.blogspot.com/2010/07/josefa-jara-martinez-b.html |url-status=live }}
She was educated in the Mandurriao district, Iloilo, before moving to America as a pensionada to attend the New York School of Social Work (now the Columbia University School of Social Work) where she trained as a social worker.{{Cite book |last=Felizmeña |first=Amelia Delda |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=33vaAAAAMAAJ&q=Josefa+Jara+Martinez |title=Women Power in Social Welfare and Development |date=1999 |publisher=Department of Social Welfare and Development |isbn=978-971-93071-1-2 |pages=15–17 |language=en}} She returned to the Philippines after graduating to begin her social work career.
Martinez founded the first school of social work in the Philippines, which was affiliated with the Philippine Women's University, and is now known as the Philippine School of Social Work.{{Cite web |last=Lariza |first=Edwin |date=27 May 2012 |title=Rediscovering the Ilonggo Contribution to Social Work |url=https://centralphilippineuniversity.org/2012/05/28/rediscovering-the-ilonggo-contribution-to-social-work/ |access-date=22 November 2024 |website=Central Philippine University Alumni |language=en |archive-date=December 2, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241202203910/https://centralphilippineuniversity.org/2012/05/28/rediscovering-the-ilonggo-contribution-to-social-work/ |url-status=live }} She later became the director of the non-governmental agency, the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement (PRRM) in Nueva Ecija.{{Cite book |last=Nelmida-Miclat |first=Agrinelda |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0p7kAAAAMAAJ&q=Josefa+Martinez+social+work |title=The Fundamentals of Community Organization and People Empowerment |date=1993 |publisher=Mary Jo Educational Supply |isbn=978-971-8752-03-6 |pages=46 |language=en}} She also authored The Evolution of Philippine Social Work.
She was a Protestant belonging to the United Church,{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cp9uAAAAMAAJ&q=Josefa+Martinez+social+work |title=Philippine Studies |date=2002 |publisher=Ateneo de Manila University Press |pages=20 |language=en}} and became the executive secretary of the Young Woman's Christian Association of the Philippines.{{Cite book |last=Reyes |first=Felina |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X0QxpQMd3FsC&dq=Josefa+Jara+Martinez&pg=PA6 |title=Filipino Women: Their Role in the Progress of Their Nation |date=1951 |publisher=U.S. Department of Labor, Women's Bureau |pages=6 |language=en}} After the death of Josefa Abiertas, Martinez was one of the founders of the Josefa Abiertas House of Friendship in Quezon City, which supported "unwed mothers and fatherless children".{{Cite journal |last1=Sonza |first1=Demy |last2=Sonza |first2=Gloria |date=1979 |title=Josefa Abiertas: The first Filipino woman Baptist to gain national renown |url=https://repository.cpu.edu.ph/handle/20.500.12852/2563 |journal=Southeast Asia Journal |language=en |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=32–34 |archive-date=December 29, 2024 |access-date=November 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241229141524/https://repository.cpu.edu.ph/handle/20.500.12852/2563 |url-status=live }}
Martinez was also a suffragist who was a member of National Federation of Women's Clubs (NFWC), which led the campaign for women's enfranchisement in the Philippines.{{Cite book |last=Lundström-Burghoorn |first=Wil |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RHeEQiUXURIC&dq=Josefa+Jara+Martinez&pg=PA18 |title=Gender Politics in Asia: Women Manoeuvring Within Dominant Gender Orders |date=2008 |publisher=NIAS Press |isbn=978-87-7694-015-7 |pages=18 |language=en}} A cartoon of her as a suffrage campaigner was published in the Manilla Bulletin newspaper.{{Cite book |last1=Edwards |first1=Louise |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FMPGtxUZSjkC&dq=Josefa+Jara+Martinez&pg=PT10 |title=Women's Suffrage in Asia: Gender, Nationalism and Democracy |last2=Roces |first2=Mina |date=21 August 2006 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-32035-6 |language=en}}
Marriage and children
Martinez was married to Rufino Martinez, the Philippines’ first US-trained naval architect,{{Cite web |title=Early Years - Eddie's Nuclear Family |url=https://www.fvrlegacy.org/early-years/eddies-nuclear-family |access-date=2024-12-12 |website=FVR Legacy |language=en}} and they had three children: Amelita, Linda and Rori.{{Cite web |title="Mommy" and her family and friends |url=https://www.philstar.com/other-sections/starweek-magazine/2006/09/17/358614/quotmommyquot-and-her-family-and-friends |access-date=2024-12-12 |website=The Philippine Star |archive-date=December 13, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241213105532/https://www.philstar.com/other-sections/starweek-magazine/2006/09/17/358614/quotmommyquot-and-her-family-and-friends |url-status=live }} Their daughter Amelita “Ming” Jara Martinez married Fidel V. Ramos, who was then an army officer, on October 21, 1954.{{Cite web |last=Ramirez |first=Joanne Rae M. |title=Here comes the bride |url=https://www.philstar.com/other-sections/newsmakers/2019/11/01/1964940/here-comes-bride |access-date=2024-12-12 |website=The Philippine Star}} When Ramos became the 12th President of the Philippines, Amelita became First Lady of the Philippines.{{Cite web |title=Ex-first lady Ming Ramos retires after 67 years of working at ISM |url=https://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php/articles/1189082 |access-date=2024-12-12 |website=Philippine News Agency |language=en |archive-date=January 20, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250120192823/https://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php/articles/1189082 |url-status=live }}
Death
Honours
In 1978, Martinez was awarded the Social Worker of the Year Award by the governments Professional Regulations Commissions. The public Josefa Jara Martinez High School was named after her.
In 1994, she was featured on a Philippine stamp, and a plaque was erected in her honour at the Philippine Women's University.
In 2006, the biography [https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Mommy.html?id=AGvaAAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y Mommy: The Life and Times of Josefa Jara Martinez: the Pillar of Social Work in the Philippines] by Melandrew Velasco was published, with the book launched at an event at the Orchidarium in Burnham Park, Baguio, Benguet.
References
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Category:20th-century Filipino women educators
Category:20th-century Filipino educators
Category:Filipino women activists