Projects and Activities

More Than A Decade of Success

The Brown Foundation operated with a volunteer staff for six years after its founding. In 1994, the organization received a modest grant, hired two staff members, and established an office at Washburn University School of Law in Topeka. The Foundation relocated its office to downtown Topeka in 1996. In January 2004 the Foundation moved to its present location in the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site at 15th and Monroe.

Since its inception, the Brown Foundation, along with member support, has gone from simply awarding minority teacher education scholarships to establishing the Brown v. Board of Education 50th Anniversary Presidential Commission and creating the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in Topeka. This site is a unit of the National Park Service.

The following are milestones of the successes and other accomplishments the Brown Foundation has achieved along the way:

• Helped more than four dozen minority college students pursue a teaching career.
• Sponsored programs on understanding diversity for several thousand people.
• Provided schools across the country, annually, with the Brown Quarterly curriculum newsletter.
• Conducted oral history interviews with Brown case participants in five states.
• Developed educational resources on African American History for teachers.
• Established a reading program for preschools and primary grades serving more than 1,000 children each year, and opened four libraries for children from low-income families.
• Worked with five summer camp sites for children from low-income families.
• Established an after school program for children from low-income families.
• Assisted students from both inside and outside the United States with special history projects.
• Established the Lucinda Todd Book Award.
• Developed a partnership with Washburn University for the Oliver L. Brown Distinguished Visiting Professor for Diversity Issues
• Created a traveling exhibit on Brown v. Board of Education.
• Worked with the National Park Service, preservation groups nationwide, and U.S. Congress to establish the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in Topeka. Economic impact includes jobs, real estate, restaurants, hotels and other service industries.
• Worked with Congress to establish the Brown v. Board 50th Anniversary Presidential Commission.