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LULAC is formed
The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), founded in 1929, is the oldest and most widely respected Hispanic civil rights organization in the United States of America. -
Mendez v. Westminster
Mendez, et al v. Westminister [sic] School District of Orange County, et al, 64 F.Supp. 544, aff'd, 161 F.2d 774, was a 1947 federal court case that challenged racial segregation in Orange County, California schools. -
Hernandez v. Texas
On May 3, 1954—58 years ago today—the Supreme Court in its landmark decision Hernandez v. Texas ruled that Mexican Americans (and all other racial groups) were due equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. -
Cesar Chavez helps found the UFW
THE UNITED FARM WORKERS IS BORN.
In 1962 Cesar founded the National Farm Workers Association, later to become the United Farm Workers - the UFW. He was joined by Dolores Huerta and the union was born. -
Betty Friedan creates NOW
NOW's Statement of Purpose, which was adopted at its organizing conference in Washington, D.C., on October 29, 1966, declares among other things that "the time has come to confront, with concrete action, the conditions that now prevent women from enjoying the equality of opportunity and freedom of choice -
MALDEF is formed
Founded in 1968 with a $2.2 million seed grant from the Ford Foundation, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) describes itself as “the nation's leading Latino legal civil rights organization.” -
The ERA is passed by Congress
On March 22, 1972, the Senate passed the Equal Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution, which proposed banning discrimination based on sex. The E.R.A. was sent to the states for ratification, but it would fall short of the three-fourths approval needed. -
The ERA fails ratification
When the equal rights amendment was introduced in Congress in 1972, it quickly garnered the necessary majority in each house and was sent to the states for their consideration. Hawaii ratified the amendment the same day as Congress, and 34 other states quickly followed. But the ERA was never able to gain the approval of another three states to reach the necessary 38 state majority. In 1980, it died. -
Sonia Sotomayor appointed to the Supreme Court
Sonia Sotomayor was born June 25, 1954, in the Bronx, New York. Her desire to be a judge was first inspired by the TV showPerry Mason. She graduated from Yale Law School and passed the bar in 1980. She became a U.S. District Court Judge in 1992 and was elevated to the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals in 1998.
