Felicitas Méndez
Felicitas Gómez Martínez de Méndez (February 5, 1916 – April 12, 1998) was a Puerto Rican activist in the American civil rights movement. In 1946, Méndez and her husband, Gonzalo, led an educational civil rights battle that changed California and set an important legal precedent for ending de jure segregation in the United States. Their landmark desegregation case, known as Mendez v. Westminster, paved the way for meaningful integration and public-school reform.
Felicitas Gómez Martínez de Méndez | |
|---|---|
Felicitas with her husband Gonzalo Méndez | |
| Born | Felicita Gómez February 5, 1916 Juncos, Puerto Rico |
| Died | April 12, 1998 (aged 82) Fullerton, California, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation(s) | Farmer, American civil rights pioneer |
| Years active | 1943–1970 |
| Known for | Success in ending California school segregation |
| Spouse | Gonzalo Méndez |
| Children | Four sons: Victor, Gonzalo, Jerome and Phillip; two daughters, Sylvia Méndez and Sandra Durán |
| Notes | |
Thurgood Marshall's amicus brief filed for Mendez's on behalf of the NAACP contained the arguments he would later use in the Brown case. | |
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