NHU to Host Commemorative Stamp Ceremony Honoring Landmark Legal Victory for Latino Students in California

(San Jose, CA) -On Friday, September 14th, The National Hispanic University (NHU) will be host of a Commemorative Stamp Ceremony in honor of the landmark legal victory in the Mendez v. Westminster case which desegregated schools in California and served as a test case for Brown v. Board of Education which desegregated public schools nationally.  The ceremony is a collaborative effort with the United States Postal Service www.usps.com which has recently unveiled the commemorative stamp for circulation.  This celebration will be one of three statewide with Sacramento and Santa Ana being the other sites.  The ceremony will begin at 10:00 AM and will be on the campus of NHU in Bustos Family Plaza (14271 Story Road, San Jose 95127-3823). 

“We are very proud to host the celebration of such a milestone for Latinos and minorities in California.  We owe a debt of gratitude to the brave families that stood up to the injustice of segregation and the legacy they have left us”, said NHU President Dr. David Lopez.

Mendez v. Westminster was a 1947 federal court case that challenged racial segregation in California schools.  In its ruling, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal, in a decision, held that the segregation of Mexican and Mexican American students into separate "Mexican schools" was unconstitutional. On March 2, 1945, five Mexican-American fathers (Gonzalo Mendez, Thomas Estrada, William Guzman, Frank Palomino, and Lorenzo Ramirez) challenged the practice of school segregation in the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. They claimed that their children, along with 5,000 other children of

Commemorative Stamp Mendez v. Westminster

"Mexican and Latin descent", were victims of unconstitutional discrimination by being forced to attend separate "Mexican" schools in the Westminster, Garden Grove, Santa Ana and El Modena school districts of Orange County.

Judge Paul J. McCormick ruled in favor of Mendez and his co-plaintiffs on February 18, 1946.  However, the district appealed. Several organizations joined the appellate case as amicus curiae, including the NAACP, represented by Thurgood Marshall.  More than a year later, on April 14, 1947, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal affirmed the district court's ruling.

The National Hispanic University is a private, WASC accredited, 4-year, university authorized to grant degrees since 1981.  NHU offers degrees in Liberal Studies, Business and Computer Science, as well as teacher credentialing and certificates in Translation & Interpretation.  For more information on NHU, please log onto www.nhu.edu or contact Roberto Cruz II at (408) 592-3215. 

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