Felicitas Méndez was a Puerto Rican civil rights activist. For most of her life, she lived with her husband and children in Orange County, California. In 1944, their local school district refused to enroll the Mendez’s three children based on their ethnicity. Felicitas Méndez refused to accept this decision. She, along with four other parents, sued the school district and organized committees that pushed to end segregation for Hispanic children. Two years later, the court ruled in her favor and concluded that the school district had violated the Mexican-American citizens right to equal protection. This decision paved the road for laws to be passed to integrate all California’s schools and seven years later for the Supreme Court to rule that segregation was unconstitutional. We remember her as being brave, outspoken, and determined as she fought for her children's rights and the rights of many others.