250 to 250:141. Lemon Grove, Narrated by Marianna Vinson

Heather Cox Richardson and 250 to 250: Lemon Grove, Narrated by Marianna Vinson

Marianna Vinson is a first-generation Mexican-American educator. The Superintendent of the Lemon Grove School District, Vinson formerly served as the Deputy Director for the Office of English Language Acquisition at the U.S. Department of  Education. In 1931, the San Diego County Superior Court ruled that the segregation at Lemon Grove violated California law.

In 1931, Mexican-American families in Lemon Grove, California, fought for equal education.

• The school board wanted Mexican-American children to attend a separate school.
• The parents believed all children should have equal rights.
• They took the school board to court.
• On March 30, 1931, Judge Claude Chambers ruled that separate schools were against California law.
• The Mexican-American families won their case.
• Their victory helped fight racial segregation in schools.
• In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court also ruled against school segregation in Brown v. Board of Education.

POP Interview and Civics Quiz:

• N-400 Part 7: Where have you attended school full time or part time for the past 5 years?
• USCIS 100:02. What does the Constitution do?
• USCIS 128:10. Name two important ideas from the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.
• USCIS 100:37. / 128:51. What does the judicial branch do?
• Read: What country is south of the United States? 
• Write: Mexico is south of the United States. 

Family Fun:

• ABC : How Lemon Grove fought school segregation 23 years before Brown v. Board of Education
• Astra Publishing: The story behind Without Separation by Larry Dane Brimner, illustrated by Maya Gonzalez
• Cool San Diego Sights! Lemon Grove Mural
• KPBS: Lemon Grove honors 95th anniversary of landmark school desegregation case | Lemon Grove mural preserves nearly-lost history of 'José Crow' segregation
• LA Tmes: Saving a lasting reminder of Mexican American school segregation (Blackwell, TX)
• Lemon Grove Historical Society: The Lemon Grove Incident
• Monday Mandala: Lemon coloring pages
• PBS: The Lemon Grove Incident (1985) directed by Frank Christopher
• Tanya Golash-Boza: The Long Battle to End Racial Segregation in Schools
• The San Diego Union-Tribune: The Lemon Grove Incident
• UCTV: The Lemon Grove Incident and the Making of a History Professor with Luis Alvarez 
• US Courts: Moments in History: Mendez v. Westminster
• US Dept of Ed: The Unheralded History of the Lemon Grove Desegregation Case
• uscitizenpod: Lemon Grove Incident coloring page
• Zinn Education Project: Jan. 5, 1931: Lemon Grove Incident