Mendez v. Westminster School District:
Paving the Path for School Desegregation
and
Brown v. Board of Education

UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center Symposium
Free and Open to the Public
Friday, May 21, 2004
UCLA Faculty Center, California Room
9:00AM – 7:00PM

   The UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center will host a one day symposium about the Mendez case, the landmark desegregation case of 1946 that successfully ended de jure segregation in California and a precursor to later court cases, including Brown v. the Board of Education. This symposium will bring together scholars, students, artists, and experts from across California. Included among the list of presenters are Sylvia, Gonzalo Jr., Jerome and Sandra Mendez, the children of Gonzalo and Felicitas Mendez, the main plaintiffs named in the lawsuit, as well as a number of former students who attended Hoover School, the Westminster School District's designated "Mexican School" in the 1940s.

   The Mendez symposium has been designed with several key objectives in mind. First, it is intended to inform students and the general public about the Mendez case and its significance to Brown v. Board of Education (1954); second, to honor the memory and efforts of the many Mexicans/Chicana/os involved in the Mendez lawsuit and their struggle against California school segregation and discriminatory policies and practices in the mid-1940s, and to discuss the important contributions that people of Mexican descent have made to education; third, to impact ethnic studies and educational scholarship. Lastly, the symposium is intended to inform participants about research regarding past practices of de jure segregation with the hopes of informing present day practices of de facto segregation. With this year marking the 50th anniversary of the landmark case, Brown v. Board of Education, we at the Chicano Studies Research Center recognize the important timing of this event and the need to continue the quest for educational equality.

Friday, May 21, 2004
UCLA Faculty Center, California Room
9:00AM – 7:00PM

For Further information on the Mendez Symposium:

• Symposium Agenda
• Driving Directions and Parking Info [UCLA Campus Map]

Photographs of Gonzalo and Felicitas Mendez

The Hoover School

1944 First Grade Class of the Mexican school

 

Photographs of Gonzalo and Felicita Mendez, the Hoover School, and the 1944 First Grade Class of the Mexican school are from the collection of Sylvia Mendez.