As a little girl in Westminster, California, in 1945, Sylvia Mendez yearned to attend the “beautiful school” with the “nice playground” where the school bus deposited her every morning.

As a child, Sylvia Mendez thought her parents’ court case was all about a playground. That’s because in 1944, the school bus would drop her off at the white school, which had “manicured ...

For Sylvia Mendez, it all started with a playground. The elementary school she attended in Westminster, California, in 1944 didn’t have one; that was a luxury reserved for the white schools.

Feb. 18, 2005 -- -- When Sylvia Mendez was 9 years old in Orange County, Calif., she went to Hoover Elementary School. She wanted to go to the Westminster School 10 blocks away, but she wasn't ...

StoryCorps has captured what Sylvia Mendez remembers of a federal court case, Mendez v. Westminster, concerning access to high-quality schooling for Latino children. When they weren’t able to ...

The daughter of one of the plaintiffs, Sylvia Mendez, has spent her retirement telling the story of the landmark desegregation case, which was decided 75 years ago on April 14, 1947. But she goes ...

Recently, Gonzalo and Felicitas Mendez's daughters — Sylvia Mendez and Sandra Mendez Duran — spoke about the case, and how it has affected their lives. "I remember being in court every day.

WASHINGTON – Sylvia Mendez smiled through tears Tuesday as President Barack Obama draped the Medal of Freedom around her neck, overcome as she remembered the desegregation fight her parents wage ...

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 ...

Sylvia Mendez was 8 years old when she was denied entrance into 17th Street School in Westminster because of her Mexican surname. Her parents took the district to court, resulting in a legal ...

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." ...