NYSUT celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month with a new poster honoring Sylvia Mendez, an American civil rights activist of Mexican-Puerto Rican heritage.
The poster is available for download to all in English-language and Spanish-language versions; limited quantities are available to NYSUT members by ordering online.
About Sylvia Mendez
At age 8, Sylvia Mendez was the lead plaintiff in the case of Mendez
v. Westminster, a federal lawsuit filed by her parents after Mendez was denied enrollment in
the local elementary school because of her
Latino surname and dark skin. The 1947 case
ended school segregation in California and
paved the way for the American civil rights
movement.
Supreme Court Justice Thurgood
Marshall, then an NAACP lawyer, submitted an
amicus court brief for Mendez v. Westminster
citing the inequality of schools segregated by
race or ethnicity. Marshall used the brief in 1954
to argue Brown v. Board of Education, which
ended school segregation nationwide. In 2011,
President Barack Obama awarded Mendez the
Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s
highest civilian honor. She continues to speak
to students around the country about her
experience and segregation.
Download the Poster
Hispanic Heritage Resources:
Order at NYSUT's new online Publications Catalog
NYSUT's wide variety of more than two dozen history posters — including the Hispanic Heritage Month poster honoring Sylvia Mendez — are available in our new online Publications Ordering Catalog.
Limited printed quantities are FREE for NYSUT members and leaders. It's so easy. Just:
- Browse the items by category.
- Add the items to your cart.
- Log in as a NYSUT member.
- Place your order electronically.
To get started, go to www.nysut.org/publications and click "Hispanic Heritage Posters". In addition to the new poster celebrating Mendez, you will also find posters of United States Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera, farm worker rights activist Librada Paz, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and more.