William C. Willie Velasquez founded the South-west Voter Registration and Education Project (SVREP) and was an influential participant in other leading Latino rights and justice groups. From the late 1960s until his untimely death in 1988, Velasquez helped Mexican Americans and other Hispanies become active participants in American political life. Though still insufficiently appreciated, Velasquez holds a unique status in the pantheon of modern American civil rights figures.