Josefina María Niggli was in Monterrey, Mexico on July 13, 1910, but her family fled to Texas when violence emerged during the Mexican Revolution. Her family stayed roving back and forth across the border for many years and Josefina was home-schooled for the majority of her primary school years. She and her mother eventually established a new home in San Antonio, Texas when Josefina was fifteen where she went on to complete high school and pursue a higher education while her father stayed in Mexico “until near the time of his death”. Niggli would continue making visits to Mexico, but America was her country of residence starting in 1925 (Martinez 7-8).