85-Year-Old Social Activist to Be Honored
Social activist Alice Greenfield McGrath will be honored at a benefit luncheon Sunday sponsored by the Ventura County Community Foundation.
The tribute is a fund-raiser for Destino 2000, which funds local charities that serve the Latino community. The group has already granted $238,000 to local nonprofits.
McGrath, 85, is best known for her involvement in the Sleepy Lagoon incident, which gained notoriety as one of the most racist court decisions in California history. In the 1942 case, an all-white jury convicted 17 Latino youths in the beating death of a Mexican national.
The convictions were later overturned by a judge, who cited a lack of evidence and found that the defendants were denied access to attorneys.
McGrath, who was a secretary with the legal defense committee for the Sleepy Lagoon defendants, continues to work to obtain legal counsel for the poor and heads Nicaraguan relief efforts by American physicians.
Tickets are $85 for the tribute, which will be held at the Sterling Hills Golf Club in Camarillo.
For more information, call 988-0196, Ext. 27.
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