On a spring morning, Sylvia Mendez walked into an eighth-grade history classroom in Santa Ana and began a talk she’d given hundreds of times before. At 85 years old, she held steady with a cane.

Sylvia’s father, Gonzalo Mendez — who himself had attended the 17th Street School as a child — went to talk with the higher-ups. “He talked to the principal and he said, ‘I’m sorry ...

Gonzalo Mendez went to talk with the principal. “He said, ‘I’m sorry, Mr. Mendez, we don’t have Mexicans here,’ ” Sylvia Mendez recalled. “Then he went to the superintendent of ...

I had the good fortune of hearing Sylvia Mendez, a retired nurse, and her brother, Gonzalo Mendez, talk about their experience at a recent conference on the 60th anniversary of the historic Brown ...

Recently, Gonzalo and Felicitas Mendez's daughters — Sylvia Mendez and Sandra Mendez ... After it was over, the family didn't talk about it much — Sandra didn't learn about the case until ...

Gonzalo Mendez’s testimony in a California courtroom was brief, but within it were layers of American history — of segregation, incarceration and inequality. It was also the straightforward ...

The future educators received a special treat, as Sylvia Mendez, 87, was on hand to share her childhood story, including the long walk she and her brothers faced each day to attend school.

WESTMINSTER — Long after her parents fought for an equal opportunity for their children in the school system, Sylvia Mendez gazed upon the gathering before her, filled with pride as she watched ...

At just eight years old, Sylvia Mendez became a key figure in Mendez v. Westminster, a landmark school desegregation case that laid the groundwork for Brown v. Board of Education. Her family’s ...

At the park, teaching candidates from Costa Mesa’s Vanguard University met with civil rights activist Sylvia Mendez, whose parents were among several Mexican American families who successfully ...

At the center of it all was Sylvia Mendez who was only 10 years old at the time. She remembered her family's sacrifice Thursday. But her father in his time never even heard a "Thank you." ...

It all started in 1943, when Sylvia Mendez and her brothers attempted to go to Seventeenth Street School in Westminster. Instead of admitting them, school officials turned the Mendez siblings away ...