Munemitsu (Seiko) and Mendez (Gonzalo) Lease Agreements, 1944 December 20, 1945 August 31

Printable guide [HTML]

Summary

Title:
Seiko Munemitsu and Gonzalo Mendez lease agreements
Subtitle:
Part of the Mendez et al. v. Westminster School District of Orange County et al. Archives
Dates:
1944 December 20, 1945 August 31
Creators:
Munemitsu, Janice
Abstract:
This collection contains two original leases for farm land made between Seiko Munemitsu and Gonzalo Mendez in Westminster, CA in 1944 and 1945, respectively.
Containers:
: Mendez v. Westminster doc-box 2
folder: 5-6
Extent:
.2 Linear Feet (2 legal-sized folders)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Item title / description; Box "n" / Folder "n"], Seiko Munemitsu and Gonzalo Mendez Lease Agreements (2009-041-r), Frank Mt. Pleasant Library of Special Collections and Archives, Chapman University, CA. For the benefit of current and future researchers, please cite any additional information about sources consulted in this collection, including permanent URLs, item or folder descriptions, and box/folder locations.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection contains original leases for farm land made between Seiko Lincoln "Tad" Munemitsu and Gonzalo Mendez in Westminster, CA. The first land lease was signed on December 20, 1944 and the second land lease was signed on August 31, 1945. The Mendez family took over the farms and ran them successfully while the Munemitsu family were in Japanese incarceration camps.

Biographical / historical:

Seiko Lincoln "Tad" Munemitsu was a Japanese American who was born in the United States (US) to his father Seima and his mother Masako. By the 1940s, the Munemitsus ran a forty-acre farm in Westminster, CA. Because Tad's parents were Japanese immigrants, they were legally barred from owning US property and their son Tad assumed legal ownership of their farm as a child. In 1942, the US government relocated Masako and her four children to a Japanese American incarceration, or internment, camp in Poston, Arizona. Seima, a community leader, was falsely considered a political dissident by the FBI and sent to detention centers in New Mexico and Colorado before reuniting with his family in Poston two and half years later.

To ensure the Munemitsus could return to their farm after the war, their trustworthy banker and friend, Frank Monroe, arranged a farm lease agreement between Tad Munemitsu and Gonzalo Mendez, who wanted to run his own farm. Gonzalo and his wife, Felicitas, drove to Poston to discuss their one-year farm lease agreement with Tad that included the farm, family house, workers' cottages, barn, trucks, and farming equipment. Tad and Gonzalo likely had an informal lease agreement before signing the December 20, 1944 lease in this collection. Gonzalo also made an extra effort by driving the 250 miles to Poston several times to deliver the lease money to Tad, ensuring that he received it in the camp.

When Gonzalo moved his family to Westminster and tried enrolling his children in school, he was told to enroll them in the segregated "Mexican" school. Shortly after this, Gonzalo Mendez initiated the class action lawsuit against Westminster School District. Gonzalo was able to use his farm earnings to pay the legal fees for the case.

After the war, the Munemitsu family returned to their farm in Westminster and allowed the Mendez family to keep leasing the farm from September 1945 to August 1946. The August 31, 1945 lease is in this collection. Their unique arrangement specified that Mendezes would remain in the family house and keep that year's asparagus crop earnings, while the Munemitsus would live in one of the workers' cottages rent-free and work on the farm for minimum wage. Gonzalo was grateful for the opportunity to have his own farm and Tad was also grateful for Gonzalo's honesty and integrity while the Mendezes took care of the farm during the war.

The Munemitsus even offered temporary housing on their land to fellow, formerly incarcerated Japanese, giving them a chance to start over after the camps.

The 1946 Mendez v. Westminster class action lawsuit is also known as Gonzalo Mendez, et al., Petitioners. vs Westminister [sic] School District of Orange County, et al., Respondents. The petitioners and their attorney, David Marcus, won their case against Mexican American school segregation in Orange County, CA in 1947.

The case's petitioners were fathers and children from five Latin American families. They were Gonzalo Mendez and his children Sylvia, Gonzalo, and Geronimo; William Guzman and his son Billy; Frank Palomino and his children Arthur and Sally; Thomas Estrada and his children Clara, Roberto, Francisco, Syria, Daniel and Evelina; and Lorenzo Ramirez and his children Ignacio, Silverio and Jose.

The case's respondents were four Orange County school districts and their administrators. They included Westminster School District of Orange County's Trustees J. A. Houlihan, Lewis Conrady, and Ray Schmitt, as well as Superintendent J. Harris. For Garden Grove Elementary School District of Orange County, they included Trustees William C. Noble, Robert B. Smith and Paul Applebury, as well as Superintendent James L. Kent. For Santa Ana City Schools, they included Board of Education members George R. Wells, Hiram M. Currey, James K. Givens, Daniel W. Stover and George J. Busdieker, as well as Superintendent Frank A. Henderson and Secretary Harold Yost. For El Modeno [sic] School District, they included Trustees Henry Campbell, Theodore Hower, Clarence Johnson, and Superintendent Harold Hammarsten.

"Francis "Frank" Austin Monroe was born April 21, 1888 in San Antonio, Texas to Franklin and Emily "Amelia" [Oster] Monroe. His father died before he turned two and he and his mother moved to St. Louis, Missouri where she likely had family. By the age of 20, Frank was a clerk in the St. Louis office of the Wabash Railroad. Sometime around 1915, he came to Orange County, California. On June 25, 1915 he married Iowa native Enola Christina Meyer Sherwood who'd arrived in Orange County around 1905. Their son, Robert F. Monroe, was born around 1929. Frank became a cashier at the First National Bank of Garden Grove in 1918 and later (despite only having a high school diploma) served as the bank's president for many years. He was a member of the Garden Grove First Methodist Church, a director of the Garden Grove Chamber of Commerce, and was the longtime treasurer of the Garden Grove Masonic Lodge 586. Frank died suddenly of a heart attack at his home at 12461 Euclid Ave., Garden Grove, on Sept 17, 1951. He is buried at Fairhaven Cemetery in Santa Ana." (Chris Jepsen, Orange County Archives)

Acquisition information:
Gift of Janice Munemitsu.
Processing information:

Processed by Lauren Abel in 2012. Reprocessed by Victoria Perez in December 2023. Updated by Perez as of March 2024.

This collection's box and folders were incorrectly labeled in processing with the identifier 2009-063-r. They have been relabeled with the correct identifier 2009-041-r.

This resource abbreviates the court case name either as Mendez et al. v. Westminster School District of Orange County et al. or Mendez v. Westminster. See biographical/historical note for a full list of petitioners and respondents.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged in chronological order.

Physical location:
Leatherby Libraries, Frank Mt. Pleasant Library of Special Collections and Archives
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Bibliography:

Affidavit of David C. Marcus, March 19, 1945; Gonzalo Mendez et al v. Westminster School District of Orange County et al; Civil Case Files, 1938–2004; Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685–2009, Record Group 21; National Archives Building, Riverside, CA. National Archives and Record Administration. Accessed September 19, 2023. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/6277728.

Antonio, Marjorie Justine. A Family Separated: How the Munemitsu Family Survived Japanese American Incarceration. National Park Service. Accessed December 7, 2023. https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/a-family-separated-how-the-munemitsu-family-survived-japanese-american-incarceration.htm?utm_source=article&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=experience_more&utm_content=small.

Antonio, Marjorie Justine, Alyssa Eveland, Melissa Hurtado, and Jade Ryerson. Entangled Inequalities: Japanese Incarceration and Mendez, et al. v. Westminster School District of Orange County, et al. National Park Service. Accessed December 7, 2023. https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/entangled-inequalities-japanese-incarceration-and-mendez-et-al-v-westminster-school-district-of-orange-county-et-al.htm.

Appeal Bond, March 30, 1946; Gonzalo Mendez et al v. Westminster School District of Orange County et al; Civil Case Files, 1938–2004; Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685–2009, Record Group 21; National Archives Building, Riverside, CA. National Archives and Record Administration. Accessed September 19, 2023. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/6277748.

Library of Congress. A Latinx Resource Guide: Civil Rights Cases and Events in the United States. Accessed September 19, 2023. https://guides.loc.gov/latinx-civil-rights/mendez-v-westminster#s-lib-ctab-24709371-2.

Munemitsu, Janice. The Kindness of Color: The Story of Two Families and Mendez, et al. v. Westminster, the 1947 Desegregation of California Public Schools. 2021.

Munemitsu, Janice. Munemitsu Farms. Walk The Farm. Accessed December 1, 2023. https://www.walkthefarm.org/munemitsu-farms.

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Lauren Abel, Victoria Perez
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2026-04-08 15:44:23 -0400 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

This collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

There are no restrictions on the use of this material except where previously copyrighted material is concerned. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain all permissions. For further copyright information, please contact the archivist.

Preferred citation:

[Item title / description; Box "n" / Folder "n"], Seiko Munemitsu and Gonzalo Mendez Lease Agreements (2009-041-r), Frank Mt. Pleasant Library of Special Collections and Archives, Chapman University, CA. For the benefit of current and future researchers, please cite any additional information about sources consulted in this collection, including permanent URLs, item or folder descriptions, and box/folder locations.

Location of this collection:
One University Drive
Orange, CA 92866, US
Contact:
(714) 532-7719
speccoll@chapman.edu
Website