Sylvia Mendez is an American civil rights activist who contributed to ending school segregation. Mendez is of Mexican-Puerto Rican heritage, and was not allowed to enrol in a "whites-only" school in California. At age eight, Sylvia and her family were involved in the case Mendez v. Westminster (1946). The case ended school segregation in California and contributed to the civil rights movement in other states. Sylvia Mendez was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civilian honor, on February 15, 2011.