Bastrop, established as a Mexican municipality in 1832 and later renamed Mina, followed the pattern of many Texas towns in the early 20th century by operating separate grade school campuses for Mexican American, African American, and Anglo American students. After establishing a school for Mexican Americans in the 1910s, the town built the Mina Ward School in 1933 on land east of Main Street and north of the M-K-T railroad tracks. The one-story yellow frame schoolhouse included classroom space and a stage, where one or two teachers taught eight grades of students from Bastrop and the surrounding rural area. In 1947, Samuel and Nemesia García asked officials to allow their granddaughter to attend the Anglo American school, but were refused. On Nov. 17, 1947, San Antonio attorney Gustavo (Gus) C. Garcia, with support from University of Texas professor George I. Sanchez and the League of United Latin American Citizens, filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of twenty students in four local school districts under the title Minerva Delgado, et al. vs. Bastrop Independent School District of Bastrop County, et al. The complaint charged that the schools denied children equal educational opportunities. At a hearing on Jun. 15, 1948, federal judge Ben H. Rice issued a summary judgment that segregation of children of "Mexican or other Latin American descent" was arbitrary, discriminatory, and violated the plaintiffs' constitutional rights under the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. The Mina Ward School then closed, though the ruling still left in place statewide segregation of African American students and of first graders who did not demonstrate English-language proficiency. The school and the Delgado v. Bastrop case became significant contributions to the Civil Rights movement and expanded opportunities for generations of Texans.