Traveling Exhibit - Panels

 

Brown v. Board of Education - In Pursuit of Freedom & Equality - Traveling Exhibit
   
Panel 8 - Court Cases on Segregation in Kansas

African American parents challenged the inequities of "separate but equal" in first class cities (population over 15,000) and tried to prevent extension of segregation in small towns.

Cases varied in specific issues. These appeals through the courts arose from a belief that enforced segregation prevented children from equal access to Kansas public schools.

ELEVEN CASES REACHED
THE KANSAS SUPREME COURT
1881 - The Board of Education of Ottawa v. Elijah Tinnon
1891 - Knox v. Board of Education, Independence
1903 - Reynolds v. Board of Education, Topeka
1906 - Cartwright v. Board of Education, Coffeyville
1907 - Rowles v. Board of Education, Wichita
1908 - Williams v. Board of Education, Parsons
1916 - Woolridge v. Board of Education, Galena
1924 - Thurman-Watts v. Board of Education, Coffeyville
1929 - Wright v. Board of Education, Topeka
1941 - Graham v. Board of Education, Topeka
1949 - Webb v. School District No. 90, South Park Johnson County, Kansas

Harvey Webb et al. won their case based on unequal school facilities in South Park, Johnson County, Kansas. This decision by the Kansas Supreme Court came just before Brown et al. challenged the Board of Education of Topeka in federal court.


Article entitled: Appeal of Negroes Heard by High Court", Olathe Mirror, April 14, 1949.
Courtesy Kansas Collection, University of Kansas Libraries.

 
Emblem of the Kansas Supreme Court, Topeka, Kansas
Courtesy Kansas State Historical Society.


Window at entrance to Supreme Court Room, Kansas Statehouse, Topeka, Kansas, and entrance to Supreme Court, Kansas Statehouse, Topeka, Kansas.
Courtesy, Kansas State Historical Society.