MEDIA INVITATION

CONTACT:

Leslie Licano , (714) 573-0899 ext. 23  
leslie@echomediapr.com

KOCE-TV & CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY PRESENT “MENDEZ VS. WESTMINSTER:
60-YEAR ANNIVERSARY CIVIL RIGHTS TOUR OF OLD TOWNE ORANGE”

More Than 300 Expected to Hear Influential Guest Speakers & Tour Historic Sites
That Influenced OC’s Civil Rights Strides

Saturday, February 18, 2006 • 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. • Chapman University, Beckman Hall – Room 404

WHAT:

In celebration of the hard-won civil rights victories that occurred in Orange County and the courageous local revolutionaries who made them possible, KOCE-TV and Chapman University have organized Mendez vs. Westminster: 60-Year Anniversary Civil Rights Tour of Old Towne Orange. More than 300 teachers, students and community members are expected to participate in this inspirational event that will include insight from local history-makers, as well as a self-guided tour of Old Towne Orange’s most historically rich landmarks.

Attendees will receive CD’s featuring an introduction from Bill Medley of the Righteous Brothers, who will discuss his Orange County upbringing and the influence of Hispanic culture on his life. In addition, interviews from the Cypress Street Barrio of the Orange area will share personal stories relating to each historical landmark as they are visited along the tour.
WHY:
 February 18, 2006 marks the exact 60-year anniversary of the landmark local case, Mendez vs. Westminster, whose victory desegregated Orange County schools, and shaped the course of U.S. Civil Rights, eventually leading to Brown v. Board of Education which declared segregation in all public schools to be unconstitutional.
WHERE:

Presentation begins at Chapman University, Beckman Hall, Room 404. Sites to be toured include:

  • Hart Park Plunge – a formerly segregated municipal swimming pool in the city of Orange
  • The last standing Mexican school building, on Cypress Street in Orange
  • Sunlight Church, formerly the old Orange Theatre – a once segregated local theatre
  • The former site of the Lincoln and Roosevelt schools on the corner of Chapman and Hughes. Although the two schools shared a playground, opposite bell schedules ensured that the Mexican children of Lincoln school and the Causasian children of Roosevelt school would not mix.
  • Leatherby Library, Chapman University – Attendees will view the “Shades of Orange” exhibit featuring stunning photography from the Cypress Street Barrio
WHO:
The following key history makers and influential Orange County leaders are slated to speak at the event:
  • Sylvia and Gonzalo Mendez, Co-Plaintiffs in Mendez vs. Westminster
  • Minnijean Brown Trickey, member of the Little Rock Nine responsible for integrating Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957
  • Judge Frederick P. Aguirre, expert in the fundamental relationship between Mendez vs. Westminster and
    Brown v. Board of Education
  • Sandra Robbie, Emmy-winning KOCE-TV producer of Mendez vs. Westminster: For All the Children
  • Rueben Martinez, MacArthur Fellow
WHEN:
 Saturday, February 18, 2006
Special Guest Speakers: 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Self-Guided Tour: 12:30 p.m.
RSVP:
 This event is free; however, reservations are required by calling (714) 532-7700.
MEDIA:
 To attend this history-making event or for interviews, contact Leslie Licano at (714) 573-0899
or e-mail leslie@echomediapr.com.

 

####