Civil rights activist Sylvia Mendez, left, is presented with the Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama on February 15, 2011 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
President Joe Biden signed a bill to rename a U.S. District Court in Los Angeles as the Felicitas and Gonzalo Mendez Courthouse after the couple behind the case in Mendez v. Westminster in 1947 that ended segregation in California schools.
The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund supported the legislation.
The case was precedent for the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education ruling which made racial segregation in public schools nationwide unconstitutional.
After their daughter, Sylvia Mendez, and her brothers were rejected from attending a whites-only school because of their Mexican appearance and ancestry, Felicitas and Gonzalo Mendez organized and presented their case against the Westminster School District of Orange County.
The couple joined with Ramirez, Estrada, Guzman and Palomino families to challenge segregation in court and won their case. California then became the first state to officially desegregate schools.
The Mendez family have been commemorated through a stamp issued in 2007 by the United States Postal Service and Sylvia Mendez received a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.