Chapman hosts OC Film Fiesta, Mendez documentary Sept. 13

It’s the segregation case that isn’t as well-known, but seven years before the landmark
Brown v. Board of Education
,
Mendez v. Westminster
was the first step toward school desegregation in the United States.

Learn more about the historic Mendez case at a special free screening of the documentary
“Mendez vs. Westminster: For All the Children,”
created by Chapman University development associate and filmmaker Sandra Robbie, in Memorial Hall on Monday, Sept. 13. The screening is part of the
OC Film Fiesta (
Sept. 4-19) and will be an evening that spotlights the history of civil rights in the city of Orange and Orange County.

Festivities begin at 5 p.m. with a gathering at Orange Public Library and History Center, where participants may pick up a map for a self-guided “Peace of Orange” tour of historic sites and  discounts to Old Towne Orange restaurants. At 6:30 p.m. a mariachi-led sidewalk “Peace Parade” will proceed to Chapman’s Memorial Hall, where the film will begin at 7:15 p.m., followed by a slide show of historic photos from the segregation era and a town hall discussion of the Mendez case, led by the Orange County Hispanic Bar Association. A cake reception will follow.

The Emmy-winning documentary tells the story of the courageous families in the landmark 1947 case that desegregated Westminster schools, foreshadowing the Brown v. Board of Education case. Chapman University, an OC Film Fiesta sponsor, is also home to the
Mendez vs. Westminster Archive
, a collaboration initiated by the
Leatherby Libraries
and the
College of Educational Studies
.

The screening is presented by the College of Educational Studies, the Leatherby Libraries and the School of Law.