Maestas Case 1912-1914

From 1912 to 1914, Hispano Americans in Alamosa fought school segregation at the local "Mexican School," where Hispano-American students who were U.S. citizens and proficient in English were forced to attend separately from white students. At this site they organized for educational equity by forming the Spanish American Union, drafting a resolution, appealing to the Colorado State Superintendent, and holding a three-month boycott, but those efforts were denied. With help from the SPMDTU, they raised funds to hire Denver attorney Raymond Sullivan, who argued that school officials were making a distinction and classification of pupils in the public schools on account of race or color contrary to Article IX, Section 8 of the Colorado Constitution. Most Hispanos lived in the lower left part of Alamosa on the 1912 map marked "Mexican Dwellings," and according to the 1910 U.S. Census the Maestas family were the only Hispanos living on the north side of the tracks.

Alamosa, Colorado · United States