The daughter of a wealthy inhabitant of Ciudad Juárez, she realised at a young age that her calling was medicine. In 1915, she joined the Mexican Association of the White Cross. She was the creator of the revolutionary group of the Soldaderas, women who healed soldiers wounded in combat, with some of these even taking up arms and fighting.
Even so, Adela Velarde, the "Adelita", was not recognized for her value in combat and after the Mexican Revolution, she was forgotten. It was only in 1962 that she was finally recognized as a veteran of the Revolution and for her opposition to the government of Victoriano Huerta. She died in abject poverty in the United States, in 1971.
