A Santa Ana elementary school named after a 19th-century military officer and explorer now bears the names of two local Mexican-American parents who played a pivotal role in ending school segregation in California.
The Santa Ana Unified School District board voted unanimously recently to rename John C. Fremont Elementary School as Virginia and William Guzman Elementary School, after one of five families behind the 1947 federal court case Mendez v. Westminster. The ruling in that case declared school segregation unconstitutional in California, a precedent later cited in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education.
The Mendez family has long been recognized for its role in the historic lawsuit, but the case included the Guzman family of Santa Ana, the Thomas Estrada family of Westminster, the Frank Palomino family of Garden Grove and the Lorenzo Ramirez family of Orange. Their collective efforts helped desegregate California schools nearly a decade before the U.S. Supreme Court did the same nationwide.
“The story of Virginia and William Guzman is a story that should be taught in every classroom in our district and across our state,” school board President Hector Bustos said. “For far too long, the Santa Ana family’s critical contribution to one of the most consequential civil rights battles in U.S. history has been overlooked and minimized.”
Virginia Guzman, a Santa Ana native, had attended Fremont Elementary herself, a school once designated for Mexican children. Remembering the punishments that faced students who spoke Spanish in class, she refused to have her son, Billy, attend the same school in 1943.
Franklin Elementary, a school for white students, was closer to their home and had newer textbooks and better resources than Fremont. But when Guzman and her husband, William, tried to enroll Billy in Franklin, they were denied by the school board.
The Guzmans became the first family to file suit challenging school segregation in Orange County in the 1940s, but their case against the Santa Ana Unified School District was ultimately unsuccessful. Undeterred, they joined other parents in Orange County to file the historic class action lawsuit, Mendez v. Westminster.
In Mendez v. Westminster, the five families successfully argued that separating Mexican-American children into “Mexican schools” violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. The federal court agreed, and in 1947, the decision helped make California the first state to officially desegregate its schools.
“I think this is so timely with everything that’s going on in our community and so my hope is that our students, our families and our community can gain an even deeper sense of belonging and know that they’re appreciated, that they deserve to take up space and they belong here,” Trustee Katelyn Brazer Aceves said.
According to the district, a survey conducted earlier this year found that more than 63% of 517 respondents supported renaming the school. While the name Virginia and William Guzman Elementary School became official on June 25, the updated signage and listing in the SAUSD directory will take effect at the start of the school year on Aug. 11, district spokesperson Fermin Leal said. The district has set aside about $40,000 from its general fund to cover the cost of new signage.
A renaming ceremony with the Guzman family and community members is planned for late August or September, Leal added.
“What’s often overlooked is that the Mendez family didn’t stand alone. There were five courageous families from Orange County … who all challenged the discriminatory practice of separating children into Mexican schools and white schools. It’s important that we honor the collective effort that made this victory possible,” said Trustee Valerie Magdaleno.
The legacy of John C. Fremont, the school’s former namesake, drew criticism last year when community members voiced concerns at a school board meeting about his history and called for a name change. Fremont, a Civil War general, was known for being an outspoken critic of slavery and issuing an emancipation order in Missouri. However, as a famed explorer nicknamed “The Pathfinder,” his expeditions across the American West and Plains states involved violent encounters with Native American tribes.
Officials emphasized that the renaming was more about uplifting local figures who shaped civil rights history.
“It is our responsibility as educators, as trustees, as community members,” Bustos said, “to make sure that every child who walks through the doors of William and Virginia Guzman Elementary knows who they are, knows what they fought for, and knows that they too, have a power to stand up, speak out and change history.”
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