Alonso S. Perales (October 17, 1898 – May 9, 1960) was an American lawyer, diplomat, and civil rights activist based in Texas.

He was a founder of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and served as the second president, helping write its constitution.

[1] Raised by Crecensio Treviño and Eugenia Naranjo, he attended school in Alice and later graduated from Draughon’s Business College in San Antonio in 1915.

While in Washington D.C., he continued his studies, receiving a Master of Arts degree from the National University's School of Economics and Government.

[1][2][7] His book, Are We Good Neighbors?, published in 1948 by Artes Gráficas, examined the discrimination, exploitation, and injustices faced by people of Mexican and Latin American descent throughout the United States.

Between 1927-1928, Perales and Ben Garza, leader of the Order of the Sons of America Council #4 in Corpus Christi, discussed how to merge these organizations.

[9] Perales, thus, joined Garza, Manuel C. Gonzales, Andres de Luna, Louis Wilmot, Rafael Galvan Sr., Juan Galván, Vicente Lozano, José Tomás Canales, Edwardo Idar, Mauro Machado, J. Luz Saenz, Juan C. Solis, and E.H. Marin to found what would become the oldest Hispanic civil rights organization in the country, LULAC.

[1][12][14] In 2011, the Perales family donated his archive to Arte Público Press and its historical arm, Recovering the US Hispanic Literary Heritage program.

[3] Shortly after the donation, the organization held a Recovering the US Hispanic Literary Heritage academic conference dedicated to the work of Perales.