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Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
This treaty was a settlement between the United States and Mexico that classified Mexicans as caucasians. -
Mexican Revolution
There was an influx of Mexican immigrants seeking a new life and new opportunities in California in the early 1900's, a number of them were due to the Mexican Revolution of 1910 -
Plans in formation for a separate Mexican School
Principal Jerome Green, school board trustees, the Camber of Commerce and PTA began to meet and put together plans for a new school. This school was created out of fear of the safety of white children. It had wide support from the anti-immigrant public. -
Principal Green turns away Mexican Students
On the day back from winter break, the principal informed Mexican students that they would no longer be able to attend their school. Instead they would be attending a new school, the Caballeriza. Parents of the Mexican students were upset, but had no organization to turn to. So they created theLemon Grove Neighbors Committee and hired Fred Noon and AC Brinkley as lawyers. -
Parents Boycott the new school
Parents of Meixcan students refused to send their children to the new school. It was more like a barn than a school and had large class sizes. The school board responded by expelling any students who did not attend class for 20 days. -
Writ of Mandate filed based on racial segregation
Lawyers filed a Write of Mandate against the board for explicitly attempting to segregate students based on their race. It also mentioned that 95% of the students that were removed from the school were American citizens. The case was filed under the name Roberto Alvarez because it was a good student who spoke English well. -
Superior Court of San Diego County hears the case
Judge Chambers indicts the board members for illegally segregating the children. Many witnesses were called including the board members and staff members. Chambers asked if allowing Mexican children to interact with white students would help them to learn English more effectively and they failed to give an answer. -
Judge Chambers rules in favor of the Plaintiffs
In his decision he said: schools could "separate a few children to offer special instruction," but "the separate all the Mexicans in one group can only be done by infringing the laws the State of California." The children were allowed to attend their former school with equal rights to the white students around them -
Mendez v Westminster
This case ended school segregation in California which was still an issue outside of Lemon Grove.
