Sylvia Mendez and the Struggle for Mexican American Civil Rights

Friday, September 13, 2024 – Wednesday, October 2, 2024
East Rotunda Gallery

Gonzalo and Felicitas Mendez moved to Orange County, California, with their children Sylvia, Gonzalo Jr., and Jerome in 1944. When they tried to enroll in the majority-white school near their home, they were instead sent to a segregated school for Hispanic students. The Mendez family filed a lawsuit, arguing that segregating children based on ethnicity was a violation of the 14th Amendment. Judge Paul McCormick ruled in favor of the Mendez family in 1946, and a year later Governor Earl Warren signed a law ending school segregation in California. For students of color outside of California, school segregation would continue until the landmark decision Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka in 1954. By that time, Earl Warren was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and wrote the unanimous decision declaring that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.”

Sylvia Mendez. Photo by Richard Rivera, October 12, 2011
Image courtesy the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

“What inspired me is that my parents fought for me when I was very young. . . . They wanted me to know that I was an individual . . . that we’re all individuals, that we’re all human beings and that we’re all connected together and that we all have the same rights; the same freedom.” —Sylvia Mendez

Judgment and Injunction, Gonzalo Mendez et al v. Westminster School District of Orange County et al, March 2, 1945
Records of District Courts of the United States, National Archives at Riverside
View in National Archives Catalog

For Sylvia Mendez, the fight for rights didn’t end with the Westminster School District—it would become a lifelong cause. Sylvia continues to advocate for civil rights today, sharing her family’s story and encouraging others to take advantage of educational opportunities. President Barack Obama awarded her the 2010 Presidential Medal of Freedom for her role in the struggle for Mexican American civil rights.

Additional Resources:

Barack Obama Presidential Library: 2010 Presidential Medal of Freedom Ceremony

DocsTeach: Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient:  Sylvia Mendez

DocsTeach: Mendez v. Westminster: One Student’s Research Journey into a Barrier-Breaking Case

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