The Lemon Grove Incident: A Documentary Film from Espinosa Productions: Using the Power of Media to tell Chicano/Latino Stories

Our Story Contact Us Presentations

Internships Website Design

Topics

California and the American Dream Visiones: Taco Shop Poets The Border The U.S.-Mexican War: 1846-1848 ...and the earth did not swallow him

The Hunt for Pancho Villa 1492 Revisited Los Mineros Uneasy Neighbors The New Tijuana

In the Shadow of the Law The Lemon Grove Incident Ballad of an Unsung Hero The Trail North

The Life and Times of Padre Martinez Everybody Loves Ramón Divided Lives: Voices of Oaxacan Women in a Transborder World Pain and Privilege in Rancho Peñasquitos El Paso del Norte

Remembering the Past Arts and Culture Community Matters Immigration/The Border Media

Press Releases Video Clips

"...the story of the nation's first successful legal challenge to school segregation." -New York Times
"...trenchant and poignant." -Washington Post
"...a successful marriage of drama and documentation, rare in the genre." -Daily Star
"...an educational experience that doesn't bog down." - Houston Post
"...the story is told with quiet dignity that underlines the stupidity of all ethnic prejudices." -NC News Service

Focusing on one of the earliest school desegregation cases in U.S. history, The Lemon Grove Incident utilizes a unique combination of dramatized scenes, documentary interviews, and historical footage. The film examines the response of the Mexican American community in Lemon Grove, California, to a 1930 school board attempt to create a segregated school for the Mexican American children of the district.

Focusing on one of the earliest school desegregation cases in U.S. history, The Lemon Grove Incident utilizes a unique combination of dramatized scenes, documentary interviews, and historical footage. The film examines the response of the Mexican American community in Lemon Grove, California, to a 1930 school board attempt to create a segregated school for the Mexican American children of the district.

National PBS broadcast
CINE Golden Eagle
Gold Award, Houston International Film Festival
Three Emmys, National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, San Diego Chapter, Best Historical-Cultural Program, Set Decoration and Photography/Other than News; program also nominated for Best Director, Writer (Espinosa) and Editor
Finalist, American Film Festival Certificate of Merit, American Bar Association
John Swett Award for Media Excellence, California Teachers Association
Ohio State Award, Achievement of Merit
Chris Bronze Plaque, Columbus International Film Festival
Recognition of Special Merit, California School Boards Association
Palm Springs International Film Festival

Selected for screening in "Chicano Art: Resistance and Affirmation, 1965-1985," UCLA Wight Gallery, Fall and traveling nationwide.
Honorable Mention, National Educational Film Festival
Cruzando Fronteras Film Fest, Washington, D.C.
San Sebastian (Spain) International Film Festival
CHOICE Magazine, Outstanding Nonprint Materials
Selected for inclusion in "Los Vecinos/The Neighbors," a special international exhibition of images of life on the U.S./Mexico border by the Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego and exhibited throughout Mexico by the National Council of Culture and the Arts
Nominee, Imagen Award, National Conference of Christians and Jews

For more information about this topic, check out the following links:

Journal of San Diego History: This article from the San Diego Historical Society details the landmark court case and links to historical photos.

Please contact Espinosa Productions for ordering information.

The Lemon Grove Incident (1985)

Producer/Writer
Director/Editor
Cinematographer

Paul Espinosa
Frank Christopher
Russell Carpenter

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting
California Council for the Humanities
PBS-Mellon Foundation Grant
Helene and Detmar Waltar Endowment Fund