Felicitas Méndez (1916-1998) was determined to provide her children with equal opportunity to education, so she won a landmark court case and paved the way for desegregation in public schools across the country.
Felicitas Méndez (1916-1998) was determined to provide her children with equal opportunity to education, so she won a landmark court case and paved the way for desegregation in public schools across the country.
While motherhood can take many forms, to mother is to usher forth new generations through care, work and imagination. For the entire month of December, we’re celebrating mothers — including those who raised children who went on to lead the civil rights movement and school desegregation efforts, such as Alberta King and Louise Little, as well as mothers of movements like Lorena Borjas who started the Latinx trans movement. All of the women featured this month were dedicated to the survival of children in their work and to imagining better futures for the next generation.
History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.
Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.
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Hello! From Wonder Media Network, I'm Anna Malaika Tubbs, the author of The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of MLK, Malcom X and James Baldwin Shaped A Nation. My work focuses on motherhood, through the lens of feminism, intersectionality, and inclusivity, and I’ll be your guest host for this month of Womanica.
This month, we’re talking about mothers: women who ushered forth new generations and new futures through their care, work, and imagination.
Today’s mother fought against discrimination in California public schools. Determined to provide her children with equal opportunity to education, she won her landmark court case, which then paved the way for desegregation in public schools across the country.
Let’s meet Felicitas Mendez.
Felicitas was born in Juncos, Puerto Rico in 1916. In 1924, her father, Felipe, saw an opportunity to relocate the family to Arizona, where they could work as agricultural laborers. But once they arrived, they were met with brutal working conditions and no running water or electricity in their living quarters. Felipe participated in protests and revolts alongside other Puerto Rican migrants fighting for better conditions.
Felicitas’ family moved to California, where they picked oranges. That’s where Felicitas met her future husband, a Mexican immigrant named Gonzalo Mendez. As family legend tells it, Gonzalo fell head over heels for Felicitas immediately. One day, he offered her a ride home from work. But instead of taking her home, he drove her to San Diego, where the two got married. The young couple owned a restaurant and ran an asparagus farm. They had three children: Sylvia, Gonzalo Jr., and Gerónimo.
Felicitas and Gonzalo wanted to enroll their children in a public school in Westminster School District, by the farm where they lived and worked. But when their aunt brought the kids into the school, the teacher in charge of enrollment made it clear they weren’t welcome. Their lighter skinned cousins with a French last name could enroll– but Sylvia, Gonzalo, and Geronimo were told to go to a Mexican school instead.
Their aunt stormed out, kids in tow. When she told her brother what happened, he insisted it must have been a mistake. But the superintendent of schools told him the same thing: his children were not allowed to attend any of the white schools in Westminster.
Gonzalo Sr. was furious. This was just one example of the discrimination Mexican Americans faced in the early 20th century, particularly in southern California. Though state law had never officially authorized school districts to segregate children of Mexican ancestry, the racist practice was commonplace: they were segregated to different public facilities like movie theaters and swimming pools, and into different residential neighborhoods.
Felicitas and Gonzalo teamed up with other families in the area and in 1945 filed a class action lawsuit: Mendez v. Westminster. They asserted that the school district was denying their children equal protection of the law based on their heritage.
School officials tried to argue the separation was based on language– Spanish-speaking students would learn better around other Spanish-speaking students. But public schools are meant to be a place for children from all backgrounds to mingle and learn from one another. And As school officials took the stand, their true intentions behind segregation became clear. One superintendent said Mexican children were mentally inferior. Another said they determined which children were sent to Mexican schools based on last names.
While Gonzalo physically spent most days at the courthouse during the proceedings, Felicitas’ role was pivotal in its own way. She kept the farm running, ensuring they had enough income to pay the hefty legal fees. She also paid the wages of the other families involved in the case so they wouldn’t lose money while missing work to go to court.
On February 18, 1946, the ruling came down. The court found that school districts were violating Mexican American students’ constitutional rights. Felicitas, Gonzalo, and the other parents won. Their kids would be allowed to attend previously all-white schools.
The case was not only a landmark moment for Chicano civil rights in southern California. Soon after, the California legislature officially ended all forms of legal segregation in schools across the state. Mexican American communities in other states, filed and won similar suits. The case also set precedent for another landmark court case — Brown v. Board of Education.
Felicitas’ legacy persists in other ways. Two schools in Southern California were named in the couple’s honor. In 2007, the U.S. Postal Service released a stamp featuring Felicitas and Gonzalo’s faces. And in 2011, President Barack Obama awarded her daughter, Sylvia Mendez, with the 2010 Presidential Medal of Freedom. Felicitas helped ensure civil rights and equal access to education for children across California and the country.
She passed away on April 12, 1998.
All month, we’re talking about mothers. For more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram @womanicapodcast.
Special thanks to co-creators Jenny and Liz Kaplan, for having me as a guest host.
As always, we’re taking a break for the weekend. Talk to you Monday!