Sylvia Mendez Biography, Wiki, Net Worth, Education, Family, Here, we are going to talk about Sylvia Mendez, who is an American civil rights activist. She has played an instrumental role in the Mendez v. Westminster case. There are many interesting things you should know about Sylvia Mendez in detail. Let’s get started:
Sylvia Mendez Biography, Wiki, Net Worth, Education, Family
Name | Sylvia Mendez |
Sylvia Mendez Birthday | June 7, 1936 |
Sylvia Mendez Birthplace | Santa Ana, California |
Sylvia Mendez Nationality | American |
Nickname | Sylvia |
Sylvia Mendez Hometown | Westminster |
Sun Sign | NA |
Sylvia Mendez Height | NA |
Weight | NA |
Hobbies | NA |
Sylvia Mendez Education | California State University at Los Angeles |
Qualification | A bachelor’s degree in nursing |
Marital Status | Single |
Boy Friend | NA |
Sylvia Mendez Family | Sylvia Mendez Parents: Father:- Gonzalo Mendez Mother:- Felicitas Mendez Siblings:-Gonzalo Mendez Jr. |
Sylvia Mendez Husband | NA |
Children | NA |
Profession | Civil Rights Activist and Nurse (Retired) |
Sylvia Mendez Net Worth | USD 15 million approx. |
Social Media Profiles | Facebook ID: NA Twitter ID: @sylviafmendez, Sylvia Mendez Instagram ID: @sylvia_mendez |
Sylvia Mendez Age | 87 years old as of 2023. |
Who is Sylvia Mendez?
As mentioned above she is a civil rights activist, along with that, she is also a retired nurse. She grew up during a period when most southwestern and southern schools were separated. In California’s case, Hispanics were not permitted to attend schools, which were only designed for Whites, and were sent to Mexican schools.
She was denied registration at a Whites only school. This was the moment when her parents got encouraged to take action against segregation and come together the organized numerous sectors of the Hispanic community.
This is how they filed a lawsuit in the local federal court. As a result, Sylvia Mendez, the principal catalyst, would eventually be ended the era of segregated education. The most interesting thing about Sylvia Mendez is that she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civil honor of the United States, by President Obama in the year 2011.
Sylvia Mendez Net Worth
Her net worth is expected to be USD 15 million approximately. She is an America-based civil rights activist of Mexican-Puerto Rican heritage. She has a contributory role in the case of Mendez v. Westminster, which was called the case of desegregation of 1946. She gathered good wealth all because of her profession and the roles she played at different levels.
Sylvia Mendez Early Life
She was born on June 7, 1936, in Santa Ana, California. Her father, Gonzalo Mendez, had a successful agricultural business, while her mother was Felicitas Mendez, a native of Puerto Rico. Her family just shifted to Westminster to tend a rented farm from the Munemitsus, a Japanese-American family.
In 1943, at the age of 8, she accompanied her Aunt Sally Vidaurri, her cousins, and her brothers to register at the 17th Elementary School. School officials told her aunt that her children with light skin would be allowed to enroll.
But unfortunately, neither Sylvia nor her brothers would be permitted due to their dark skin and Hispanic surname.
In the year, her father appointed civil rights lawyer David Marcus to file a federal lawsuit against Westminster and 3 other school districts in Orange County. a lawyer argued that segregating children according to ethnicity was a desecration of the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.
At the same time, the lawyer also stated that segregating the children was dangerous because it affected their ability to learn English with a feeling of inferiority. The defense contradicted that the segregation was according to the fact that Hispanic students were lacking in the English language and this was why they needed special instruction.
After that in early 1946, the judge ruled in approval of Sylvia Mendez and ordered the 4 board schools to end the segregation of the Hispanic children. An appeals court supported the decision the next year. This is how the end of segregation took place. She paved the way for the milestone 1954 Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education.
After the court case of Mendez, Sylvia Mendez started attending the desegregated Westminster elementary school. After that, she became a graduate with an associate’s degree in Nursing from Orange Coast Community College.
Moreover, she also grabbed a bachelor’s degree in nursing along with a public health certificate from California State University in Los Angeles.
Sylvia Mendez Career
Sylvia Mendez started working at the Los Angeles County University of Southern California Medical Center and she served there for more than thirty years. Once she got retirement from nursing, Sylvia Mendez started teaching people about her legal case.
In the year 2011, President Barack Obama gave her an award of the Presidential Medal of Freedom because of her great work in civil rights.
It is a proud moment for Sylvia Mendez that The Mendez Historic Freedom Trail and Monument opened in 2022. This monument is located at 7371 Westminster Boulevard based in Westminster, California.
This monument depicts the story of what occurred in early 1944 when she and her brothers made hard efforts to get enrolled in the Westminster 17th Street School. This is how Sylvia Mendez is still remembered by people.
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