Evening with Civil Rights Activist Sylvia Méndez October 24th, 2012 UT-Austin Campus

PUBLIC LECTURE/Plática

The Bilingual-Bicultural Education Program, the Social Studies Education Program, the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, and the Department of Educational Administration in the College of Education in collaboration with The UT Law School, the Heart of Texas Writing Project, and the Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies  invite you to attend an Evening with Civil Rights Activist Sylvia Méndez & Author Winifred Conkling. The event will take place at the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection Conference Room in Sid Richardson Hall Unit 1 on Wednesday, October 24, 2012 from 5:30 – 6:30. A reception with light refreshments will follow.

Winifred Conkling's book, Sylvia and Aki, was awarded the 2012 Tomás Rivera Children's Book Award for chronicling the lives of Sylvia Méndez and Aki Munemitsu. Sylvia Mendez' family leased the asparagus farm of the Munemitsu family when they were relocated to a Japanese internment camp. As Sylvia's family tried to enroll their children in the local Westminster school they were denied enrollment and sent to the Mexican school.  Sylvia's parents led a lawsuit against four Orange County, California  school districts in the landmark civil rights case, Mendez v. Westminster School District.

At the plática, Sylvia Méndez will provide firsthand testimony of the family’s experiences in winning the appellate decision in the Mendez v Westminster School District case that preceded the Brown v Board of Education case. Sylvia Méndez was awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Obama in 2010. The Medal of Freedom is the highest honor that is bestowed on a civilian who has made "especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors."