BBE Program Proudly Hosts Sylvia Mendez and Author Winifred Conkling

On Wednesday, October 24, the Bilingual-Bicultural Education and the Social Studies programs hosted Sylvia Mendez and Winifred Conkling at UT-Austin. Sylvia is the daughter of Gonzalo Mendez who along with other Mexican-American families filed the lawsuit, Mendez v. Westminster School District that ended the segregation of Mexican heritage children in U.S. schools. Several years later, the Mendez case served as significant precedent for the NAACP in its US Supreme Court school desegregation case, Brown v. Board of Education. Sylvia Mendez spoke at the Benson Latin American Collection Conference Room about going to the courtroom with her parents. Following in her father's footsteps she has been and continues to be an advocate for education. Ms. Mendez was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama in 2011. This is the highest honor that can be presented to a civilian. Her amazing life is the subject of a children's book, Sylvia and Aki, written by Winifred Conkling. The book won the 2012 Tomás Rivera Children’s Book Award. Dr. María Fránquiz raised funds and collaborated with 10 teachers in AISD to get the book into the hands of fourth graders and to document student responses to the story. These responses were shared with Sylvia and Winifred in the form of a slide show during their public lecture/plática. Approximately 150 children, parents, teachers, UT students, UT professors and Austin community members were in attendance for this historic event and reception to honor the two women. Sponsors of the event included the College of Education’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction and Department of Education Administration, The UT Law School, The Heart of Texas Writing Project, The Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection, and the Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies.