Mexican American Educational History: A Moment of Recognition

Mexican American educational history has become a vibrant field of study since the late 1980s. In the last seven years, however, it is notable that this research has inspired community-based efforts to preserve and publicly commemorate challenges to unequal education. In this commentary, we discuss the archival recovery of the Francisco Maestas et al. v. George Shone et al. case in Alamosa, Colorado; the excavation of El Colegio Altamirano in Hebbronville, Texas; the complexity of memorializing the Mendez v. Westminster case in Orange County, California; and the implications of archival and oral history research connected to the Soria v. Oxnard School Board of Trustees case in Oxnard, California. These examples illuminate the highly contested spaces that public schools held for Mexican Americans and the role scholars and communities can play in acknowledging those moments. We see public schooling as a place where liberation and hope can occur and where scholars and communities can engage together. This is a call to continue to create relationships that lead to the recognition of past struggles and acknowledge the enduring quest for educational equality.