The House has passed bipartisan legislation to rename the Los Angeles U.S. Courthouse after the Mendez family, who were key figures in the desegregation of schools. The courthouse at 350 W. First Street will be named the Felicitas and Gonzalo Mendez United States Courthouse.

Nearly 80 years ago, the Mendez family changed American history when their daughter was denied entry to a local school for white children. Their legal battle, which ended school segregation in California in 1947, paved the way for the landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling.

Felicitas Mendez was Puerto Rican, and her husband Gonzalo was Mexican American. Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Calif., the bill’s sponsor, emphasized the courthouse as a symbol of Latino legacy and equality. If approved by the Senate and signed by the president, it would be the first federal courthouse named after a Latina.

Gomez worked closely with Sylvia Mendez, the couple’s daughter, whose education was central to the Mendez v. Westminster case. The courthouse is located near where this historic case was decided.

The Mendez family’s legal fight began in the mid-1940s when Sylvia was denied entry to her neighborhood school. Latino children were sent to a rundown “Mexican school” instead. The family sued the school district and won in federal court in 1946, with the decision upheld on appeal in 1947. This case influenced the later Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision.

Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., noted that naming the courthouse after the Mendez family helps rectify past injustices and honors their advocacy for educational equality.