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| THE LATINA SCHOOLGIRL CASE THAT ANTICIPATED BROWN v. BOARD OF EDUCATION. Wednesday, Dec 7, 6:00-8:30PM - Screening of the film "Méndez v. Westminster: For All the Children / Para Todos Los Niños" followed by Q & A with Civil Rights activist Sylvia Méndez. At Hunter College - Faculty Dining Room, West Building, 8th Floor. |
Sylvia Méndez, the daughter of a Puerto Rican mother and a Mexican father, grew up in California at a time when most Southern and Southwestern schools were segregated. When she was denied enrollment to a "Whites"-only school, her parents filed a lawsuit in local federal court. In 1947, Méndez v. Westminster became a landmark civil rights case that made California the first state to end school segregation - seven years before Brown v. Board of Education. On February 15, 2011, Sylvia Méndez was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom (watch video), the United States' highest civilian honor.
