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Vol. 4, no. 2 (Winter 2001): | Revisiting Our Past: Brown v. Board of Education | A Personal Perspective | Brown v. Board National Historic Site | Charles Hamilton Houston | Using the Internet | Book Nook | Teacher Talk | Marching Toward Justice Exhibit |
Click an image to read its caption.
The Brown v. Board 50th Anniversary Coalition was established this year to commemorate the convergence in 2004 of several turning points in Kansas history, including the 150th anniversary of Territorial Kansas and the City of Topeka and the 200th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. |
The United States Constitution guarantees liberty and equal opportunity to the people of the United States. Historically, however, these fundamental rights have not always been provided as pledged. Our system of education is one such example.
From the earliest times in U.S. history, the educational system mandated separate schools for children based solely on race. In many instances, the schools for African American children were substandard facilities with out-of-date textbooks and insufficient supplies. Court cases against segregated schools have been documented as far back as 1849.
In 1861 a civil war was fought dividing the country and determining who should receive full rights and privileges under the U.S. Constitution. This conflict cen-tered around the status of people of African descent who had been brought to these shores as slave labor. Those who would end the practice of slavery prevailed. Still, after the end of the Civil War in 1865, the inclusion of African Americans as full citizens required amending the U.S. Constitution.
As a result, the Civil War was followed by three crucial amendments to the constitution. The enactment of the 13th amendment ratified in 1865, abolished slavery; the 14th amendment ratified in 1868, conferred citizenship on the formerly enslaved people of African descent and bestowed equal protection under the law. The last in this series was the 15th amendment, ratified in 1870, that affirmed that the right of U.S. citizens to vote cannot be denied or abridged on account of race.
In spite of the mandates outlined in the newly amended U.S. Constitution, freedom and equal rights were not readily bestowed upon African Americans. Throughout this history, education was withheld from people of African descent. In some states it was against the law for this segment of the population to learn to read and write. Tremendous disappointment and disillusionment stirred African American people to continue to challenge this system of segregation.
In the first documented school case, Roberts vs. City of Boston, 1849, the courts denied Benjamin Roberts and other African American parents the right to enroll their children in certain Boston public schools. However, in 1855 the Massachusetts legislature banned racial segregation. Then in 1896, in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson, the United States Supreme Court declared it law that "separate" but "equal" facilities be provided for African Americans. This landmark case from Louisiana necessitated separate dining facilities, rest rooms, transportation, accommodations and more, including public education.
Equal rights remained virtually unattainable. Across the country, numerous cases were taken to court between 1849 and 1949. In the state of Kansas alone, there were 11 school integration cases filed between 1881 and 1949. In response to these unsuccessful attempts to ensure equal opportunities for all children, African American community leaders and organizations across the country stepped up efforts to change the educational system.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), founded in 1908, took a key role in the move toward equal educational opportunity. Members were involved at every level, providing legal counsel, and funding.
From the mid 1930s to the present, the NAACP provided strategy and legal expertise, using the courts as a proving ground to obtain full constitutional rights for African Americans. In the 1940s and 1950s, local NAACP leaders spearheaded plans to end the doctrine of "Separate but Equal." Public schools became the means to that end. Their local efforts would ultimately change the course of history.
The NAACP legal team devised a formula for success. As they built their cases, the first requirement was that they involve multiple plaintiffs. Along the final road to the U.S. Supreme Court, five excellent cases were developed from the states of Delaware, Kansas, Virginia, South Carolina and Washington, D.C. None of these cases succeeded in the District Courts and all were appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. At this juncture, they were combined and became known jointly as Oliver L. Brown et.al. vs the Board of Education of Topeka (KS), et.al.
The high courts decided to combine the cases because each sought the same relief from segregated schools for African Americans. In the end, the circumstances of the plaintiffs left no question that ending segregation as a historic practice would be the only viable outcome.
Charles Hamilton Houston argued most of the early NAACP cases. He had been the Dean of Howard Law School, a prestigious university for African Americans. He was teacher and mentor for many civil rights lawyers of that time including Thurgood Marshall. Houston died in 1950, leaving Thurgood Marshall as lead strategist and counsel for the school integration cases. Marshall took these cases all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. On May 17, 1954, 105 years after the Roberts case, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision that segregation violated the 14th Amendment and was unconstitutional. Thurgood Marshall later became the first African American to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Brown decision initiated educational reform throughout the United States and was a catalyst in launching the modern Civil Rights Movement. Bringing about change in the years since Brown continues to be difficult. But the Brown v. Board of Education victory brought Americans one step closer to true freedom and equal rights. The combined cases were:
1. Delaware - Belton v. Gebhart (Bulah v. Gebhart)
First petitioned in 1951, these cases involved two black schools: Howard High School in Wilmington and a one-room elementary school in Hockessin. Many African American students rode the bus nearly an hour to attend Howard High School. The school was over-crowded, located in the industrial area of town, and sorely lacking in educational areas. Children attending the elementary school in Hockessin wanted equal transportation to their one-room school. Relief for the initial requests for improvement was denied. The two cases were combined, both seeking integration because "the Negro schools were inferior with respect to teacher training, pupil-teacher ratio, curricular and extra-curricular activities, physical plant, and time and distance involved in travel." Their unsuccessful challenge in U.S. District Court was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
2. Kansas - Brown v. the Board of Education
In the fall of 1950 members of the Topeka, Kansas, Chapter of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) agreed to again challenge the "separate but equal" doctrine governing public education. Chapter president, McKinley Burnett, conceived the case strategy. He was assisted by attorneys Charles Scott, John Scott, Charles Bledsoe, Elisha Scott and NAACP chapter secretary Lucinda Todd. For a period of two years prior to legal action Burnett had attempted to persuade Topeka school officials to integrate their schools. This lawsuit was a final attempt.
Their plan involved enlisting the support of fellow NAACP members and personal friends as plaintiffs in what would be a class action suit filed against the Board of Education of Topeka Public Schools. A group of thirteen parents agreed to participate on behalf of their children (20 children). Each plaintiff was to watch the paper for enrollment dates and take their child to the school that was nearest to their home. Once they attempted enrollment and were denied, they were to report back to the NAACP. This would provide the attorneys with the documentation needed to file a lawsuit against the Topeka School Board.
3. District of Columbia - Bolling v. Sharp
The petition in this case was on behalf of 11 African-American junior high youths who were refused admission to all-white schools. Their school was grossly unequal in terms of physical condition, located in a rundown part of the city, and lacking adequate educational materials. Led by local activist Gardner Bishop, a suit was filed on behalf of these students in 1951. Unsuccessful in the lower courts, their case was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
4. South Carolina - Briggs v. Elliott
Twenty African-Americans parents from Clarendon County first filed a suit in 1951 on behalf of their children. With the help of the NAACP, they sought to secure better schools, equal to those provided for white children. The U.S. District Court found the black schools were clearly inferior compared to white schools. Buildings were no more than wooden shacks, transportation and educational provisions did not meet basic needs, and teachers’ salaries were less than those received in white schools. Further, the lower court "ordered the defendants to immediately equalize the facilities… [but the children were] denied admission to the white schools during the equalization program." Their case was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
5. Virginia - Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County
One hundred and seventeen African-American high school students chose to strike rather than attend all black Morton High, which was in need of physical repair. The students initially wanted a new building with indoor plumbing to replace the old school. Strike leader, Barbara Johns, enlisted the assistance of NAACP attorneys. A suit was filed in 1951 on behalf of the students. The U.S. District Court ordered equal facilities be provided for the black students but "denied the plaintiffs admission to the white schools during the equalization program." Attorneys for the NAACP filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court.
Image 2: Part of the plaintiff's legal team in Brown v. Board (l to r): Charles Scott, James M. Nabrit, Jr., Spottswood W. Robinson III, Frank D. Reeves, Jack Greenberg, Thurgood Marshall, Louis L. Redding, U. Simpson Tate and George E.C. Hayes.
Image 3: Morton High School students, Virginia, in the 1950s.
The Brown Foundation is pleased to publish this newsletter for classroom teachers through which we will share resources available from national parks and museums. Established to maintain the legacy of the Brown decision, our organization plays an exciting role as a park partner. In 1990 we were instrumental in developing Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in Topeka, Kansas. We hope you enjoy the Brown Quarterly and we eagerly anticipate your comments.
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Executive Director: Cheryl Brown Henderson |
Program Associate: Linda Brown Thompson |
Editor/Design: Grace L. Wilson gracewilsoneditor [at] cox.net |
Mailing Support: Samantha Conaway |
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