IN ORANGE COUNTY, SEGREGATION THROUGH RESIDENTIAL ZONING REINFORCED a separation between Mexican farm workers and white residents, including segregation in the educational system. The Cypress Street School, located at 544 North Cypress Street, in the city of Orange, is the last standing formerly Mexican American segregated school in Southern California. Built in 1928 to house education and health care services for children and migrant workers in the area, it became a segregated school in 1931.
The Cypress Street School closed its doors in 1944, but in other parts of Orange County, school segregation continued. By the war years, more than 80% of students of Mexican heritage were attending “Mexican schools.” In 1945, several Mexican American families challenged school segregation in the region by filing a lawsuit seeking to require the integration of schools in Westminster, Santa Ana, Garden Grove, and El Modena.
The case, Mendez et al. v. Westminster School District Orange County, is among the lesser-known against school segregation in the United States. In 1946 Federal District Judge Paul McCormick sided with the fathers and declared separate schools for Mexican children unconstitutional. The school board appealed the ruling unsuccessfully. Backed by several groups including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), American Jewish Congress, American Civil Liberties Union, National Lawyers Guild, Japanese American Citizens League, and California Attorney General Robert W. Kenny, the Mendez ruling was upheld on April 14, 1947.
Mendez v. Westminster set the stage for the landmark US Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which established in 1954 that state laws that uphold racial segregation in public schools violate the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution.
Orange County, California. Shades of Orange Cypress Street Barrio Collection. Courtesy of Orange Public Library
Students at Sycamore School, 1925
Mexican American students pictured in front of a segregated school referred to as “The Barn” or “The Mexican School” in 1925. The Barn predated Cypress Street School and was located at West Sycamore Avenue and North Lemon Street in Orange, California.
Pictured here: Ismael Nava, Connie (Consuelo) Olivos, Ysidra Balderrama, Juanita Villalobos, Frances Beltran, Juan Alcantar, Felicitas Alcantar, Hilario Olivos, Ysidoro Montoya, Rudy (unknown), Salvador Villalobos, Agapito Valdivia, Antonia Picasso, Marcelina Chavez, Antonia, Garcia, Placida Chavez, Rafaela Nava, Jack De Leon, unknown, Rene Paredez, Ernie Quin, unknown, Ricardo Martinez, and Ted Aguirre.
Orange, California. Shades of Orange Cypress Street Barrio Collection. Courtesy of Orange Public Library.
Former Students Visit Schoolhouse, c. 1945
Beatrice Vasquez, Johnny Atliano and Irene Cruz standing in front of the Cypress Street School. Johnny Atliano was a soldier in the US Army during World War II.
Cypress Street School, Orange, California. Courtesy of Orange Public Library.
Class Photo of Students in Segregated School, 1935
1st Row: Alphonso Alvarado, Librado Alonzo, Angel Robles, Johnie Rodriguez, Angel Martinez, Fred Barrera, John Montoya, Clyde Lopez, Jesus Gallardo, Lalo Garcia, and Manuel Valdivia
2nd Row: Maria Macias, Amelia De Leon, Rebecca Escobedo, Lorenza Garcia, Nicolas Pacaso, Angelina Flores, Celia Cruz, Joe Martinez, Ermelinda Peralta, and Arthur Munoz
3rd Row: Ema Cornejo, Lupe Cornejo, Elvira Salcedo, Jose Luna, Esther Luna, Ramona Beltran, and Carmen Escobedo
4th Row: Mrs. Robinson, Teacher, Martha Martinez, Lola Macias, Eisabel Flores, Vivian Martines, Josie Chavez, Helen Diaz, Crecentia Peralta, and Concha Poblano
Identified by Esther Luna Poblano, January 25, 2004.
Photographer unknown. Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license, October 1, 2016. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved August 12, 2021.
Former Segregated Schoolhouse
Cypress Street Schoolhouse, now renovated and houses Chapman University in Orange, California. The Cypress Street School, located at 544 North Cypress Street, in the city of Orange is the last standing formerly Mexican American segregated school in Southern California. The school operated as a segregated school from 1931 to 1944.
Orange, California. Shades of Orange Cypress Street Barrio Collection. Courtesy of Orange Public Library.
Garcia Residence, 185 North Cypress Street, 1935
Members of the Garcia family, including Luis Garcia with his daughters, Leonicia and Guadalupe “Lupe,” at their home located at 185 North Cypress Street in Orange. Relatives of the Garcia family continue to live in the home.
Orange, California. Shades of Orange Cypress Street Barrio Collection. Courtesy of Orange Public Library.
Chavez Brothers on Santa Fe Tracks, c. 1941
Cypress Street Barrio residents John Chavez (left), Rudy Chavez (middle), and Norman Chavez (right) are sitting on the Santa Fe railroad tracks between North Cypress Street and North Lemon Street.
Orange, California. Shades of Orange Cypress Street Barrio Collection. Courtesy of Orange Public Library.
Angie Lopez and Friends Hanging on Side of Train, c. 1943
Angie Lopez (middle with white shoes) is pictured with her friends on a Santa Fe Railroad boxcar ladder. The Santiago Orange Growers Association packinghouse was to the left of the boxcars in this image.
Orange, California. Shades of Orange Cypress Street Barrio Collection. Courtesy of Orange Public Library.
Lewis Court, 1945
Located at 442 North Cypress Street, Orange, California, Lewis Court was a rental community for people of Mexican descent. Individual units lacked addresses. Instead, mail was delivered to a store located in front of the units.
Orange, California. Shades of Orange Cypress Street Barrio Collection. Courtesy of Orange Public Library.
Alfred Poblano in Front of La Casita Restaurant, 1948
Alfred Poblano is pictured in front of La Casita Restaurant, which was located at 129 North Cypress Street in Orange, California. At the time, restaurant owners were not allowed to advertise using “Mexican” as a description. Instead, a sign reads “Spanish Dishes.”