The Largely Forgotten Colorado Desegregation Case of 1914

Because of the fact that the most famous segregation cases in United States history took place in the nation’s south, a court case that took place in Colorado, addressing a segregation issue experienced in Alamosa, is largely forgotten.

Background of the Colorado Desegregation Case

The story begins in 1909 when the Mexican Preparatory School was built in Alamosa, Colorado, as an educational institution for children of Mexican American families in the area. An influx of residents to the area had taken place due to the growing number of jobs in the railroad industry, and many of the rail workers were of Mexican descent.

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The school was created so that the Mexican American children of the area would be prepared to learn at the same level of their English-speaking peers by the time they started high school.

Just a few years later in 1912, the local school district mandated that all of the Mexican American children in the district must attend the new school, nicknamed the “Mexican School,” despite the fact that many of them were not only American citizens, but also spoke English.

A Dangerous Walk to Alamosa, Colorado's Mexican School

While forcing Mexican American children to attend a different school than their non-hispanic peers is prejudice in itself, some of the children, including 10-year-old Miguel Maestas, had to cross a dangerous railroad track to get there, an issue that prompted Miguel’s father, Denver and Rio Grande Railroad foreman Francisco, to try to convince the district to allow his son to attend the school that was closer to their home.

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When the school district refused, Maestas filed a lawsuit.

Colorado Desegregation Case Sets Precedent

In 1914, Judge Charles Holbrook ruled in favor of Maestas, citing “unlawful race prejudice,” and declared that children would be allowed to attend the school located closest to their residence if they so desired and were adequately prepared.