This article takes a look at the Mendez v. Westminster School District, a landmark case that faded into historical obscurity. In the 1940s, Gonzalo and Felicita Mendez wanted their three children to attend the school nearest their farm, which was the 17th Street Elementary School in Westminster. But in the Westminster, Orange County, El Medina, Santa Ana, and Garden Grove districts, children of Mexican ancestry, even if they were U.S. citizens, were not allowed to attend the "White" schools. As such, the Mendez children were turned away on the basis that they were too dark. As a result, the Mendez family filed a class-action suit in 1945 on behalf of more than 5,000 Mexican American students in Orange County. The outcome of the Mendez case resulted in California becoming the first state in the nation to desegregate its schools. But because, unlike Brown, this case never went before the U.S. Supreme Court, it is not as well known.