Telling Stories: One Room at a Time

Mendez v. Westminster Group Study Room

Donated by Federico Castelan Sayre, Desiree Cannon Sayre, Evangelina Marie Sayre, John Paul Castelan Sayre, and Anamaria Artemisa Sayre, the Mendez v. Westminster Group Study Room, located on the third floor of the Leatherby Libraries in Room 309, commemorates the landmark court case, Mendez, et al v. Westminster, et al. In this case, several Orange County parents fought against the segregated schooling system in Orange County that forced Mexican Americans to attend “Mexican Schools.” This 1947 case predates the historic case of Brown v. Board of Education, which officially ruled that segregation of public schools in the US was unconstitutional. Five families – Mendez, Guzman, Palomino, Estrada, and Ramirez – fought against the school districts of Westminster, Garden Grove, Santa Ana, and El Modena. Los Angeles-based civil rights attorney David Marcus represented the Mendez family, and put forth the argument that segregating K–12 students based on their nationality or ethnic background violated the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. This part of the Constitution prohibits states from denying "any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." Also for the first time, Marcus introduced evidence that segregating students because of their ethnic background harmed them. Marcus called upon a sociologist and an education expert to testify that segregating Mexican-American students hindered their learning of English as well as "American customs and ways." Educator Marie H. Hughes testified that "segregation, by its very nature, is a reminder constantly of inferiority, or not being wanted, of not being a part of the community."

As a result of the bravery of all of the families involved in the case, Governor Earl Warren signed the Anderson Bill, revoking the statute that allowed segregated public schools in California. Warren would later draw on his experience with this case when he served as the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, writing the majority opinion in the Brown v. Board of Education case of 1954, which resulted in the integration of public schools on the national level.

The Leatherby Libraries has honored the Mendez v. Westminster case in a number of ways throughout the years. Since 2008, the Frank Mt. Pleasant Library of Special Collections & Archives has held the Mendez, et al v. Westminster, et al Archive, donated by people involved with the case, primarily the Palomino family, one of the plaintiffs. The archive contains, among other items, images of the schools the students attended, pictures of the Palomino family, and minutes from a Santa Ana Board of Education meeting in 1946. 
The Mendez v. Westminster Group Study Room was dedicated in October of 2009, and members of the families involved in the case, as well as others, were present at the dedication. Sandra Robbie, Graduate Programs Specialist in the School of Pharmacy, met the Sayre family through her work directing the Emmy Award-winning PBS documentary film, Mendez vs. Westminster: For All the Children/Para Todos los Niños. Sandra has donated several Mendez-related items to Special Collections and has been pivotal in bringing other resources to the collection. 
Leatherby Libraries student employee Jimmy Elinski has written an inspiring story about how his time in the Mendez v. Westminster Group Study Room has affected him in a blog post.

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