Brown vs. Board of Education Biography Center
Directions:
Researchers often read about people who were pivotal during a certain time period.
1. Pick a reading below and read closely.
2. Ask yourself:
3. Respond to one of the questions above in your notebook.
1. Pick a reading below and read closely.
2. Ask yourself:
- Why am I reading about this person?
- Why did this person's life make it to the press?
- What makes this person unique or different?
- What challenges did this person overcome?
3. Respond to one of the questions above in your notebook.
Oliver L. Brown
from: Cobblestone. Feb2014, Vol. 35 Issue 2, p14-14. 1/2p.
We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal… ." With those words, Chief Justice Earl Warren announced the Supreme Court's unanimous and historic decision in the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka case in 1954. But how did this important case in the fight for civil rights begin?
Meet Oliver L. Brown. Brown was a member of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in Topeka, Kansas. Brown had lived his entire life in Topeka. He served his church as an assistant pastor and supported his family as a welder.
The Browns lived in a neighborhood that was crisscrossed 1 with railroad tracks. To reach the nearest elementary school for black children, Brown's eldest daughter, Linda, walked through dangerously active rail yards to a school bus stop. She then took a mile-long bus ride.
But there was an all-white elementary school much closer to the Brown's home. In 1951, Browntried to enroll Linda in that nearby all-white school. The Topeka board of education denied his request as well as those of several other African American families making similar requests. The families decided to challenge that decision to keep the city's public schools segregated. The NAACP provided legal help to bring a class action against the Topeka, Kansas, board of education, but the district court denied their case.
Then, in 1952, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments about segregation in public schools. The Supreme Court combined five different cases under the name of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka.
The NAACP lawyers pointed out that "separate but equal" was an illusion: Black schools and white schools simply did not offer the same opportunities to their students. The lawyers also argued that segregation was a violation of the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution. This clause says that no state can deny its citizens equal justice under the law.
In 1954, the Supreme Court handed down the landmark decision that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. Thanks to the persistence of certain families such as the Browns, the federal government slowly began to support the legal fight against racial inequality.
A class action is a type of lawsuit that allows a group of people to sue or be sued as a collective body.
~~~~~~~~
By Andrew Matthews
We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal… ." With those words, Chief Justice Earl Warren announced the Supreme Court's unanimous and historic decision in the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka case in 1954. But how did this important case in the fight for civil rights begin?
Meet Oliver L. Brown. Brown was a member of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in Topeka, Kansas. Brown had lived his entire life in Topeka. He served his church as an assistant pastor and supported his family as a welder.
The Browns lived in a neighborhood that was crisscrossed 1 with railroad tracks. To reach the nearest elementary school for black children, Brown's eldest daughter, Linda, walked through dangerously active rail yards to a school bus stop. She then took a mile-long bus ride.
But there was an all-white elementary school much closer to the Brown's home. In 1951, Browntried to enroll Linda in that nearby all-white school. The Topeka board of education denied his request as well as those of several other African American families making similar requests. The families decided to challenge that decision to keep the city's public schools segregated. The NAACP provided legal help to bring a class action against the Topeka, Kansas, board of education, but the district court denied their case.
Then, in 1952, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments about segregation in public schools. The Supreme Court combined five different cases under the name of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka.
The NAACP lawyers pointed out that "separate but equal" was an illusion: Black schools and white schools simply did not offer the same opportunities to their students. The lawyers also argued that segregation was a violation of the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution. This clause says that no state can deny its citizens equal justice under the law.
In 1954, the Supreme Court handed down the landmark decision that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. Thanks to the persistence of certain families such as the Browns, the federal government slowly began to support the legal fight against racial inequality.
A class action is a type of lawsuit that allows a group of people to sue or be sued as a collective body.
~~~~~~~~
By Andrew Matthews
Thurgood Marshall, from Encyclopedia Brittanica Online
Thurgood Marshall was the first African American to serve as a justice (judge) on the U.S. Supreme Court. Marshall strongly supported equal rights for African Americans.
Marshall was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on July 2, 1908. In 1933 he graduated from Howard University Law School in Washington, D.C.
In 1936 Marshall became a lawyer for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). At that time African Americans did not have the same rights as whites. The NAACP fought in the courts to win equal rights for blacks.
Marshall’s most important courtroom victory was in the case of Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka in 1954. Before this case, the law allowed states to have separate schools for whites and blacks. Marshall convinced the Supreme Court that this practice went against the U.S. Constitution. This ruling helped to end all forms of legalized segregation, or separation, by race.
In 1961 President John F. Kennedy made Marshall a judge. In 1965 President Lyndon B. Johnson made Marshall the U.S. solicitor general. In that job he represented the government in cases before the Supreme Court. Then in 1967 Johnson put Marshall on the Supreme Court.
As a Supreme Court justice, Marshall continued to support equal rights for blacks. He also opposed the death penalty. Marshall retired in 1991. He died in Bethesda, Maryland, on January 24, 1993.
Marshall was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on July 2, 1908. In 1933 he graduated from Howard University Law School in Washington, D.C.
In 1936 Marshall became a lawyer for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). At that time African Americans did not have the same rights as whites. The NAACP fought in the courts to win equal rights for blacks.
Marshall’s most important courtroom victory was in the case of Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka in 1954. Before this case, the law allowed states to have separate schools for whites and blacks. Marshall convinced the Supreme Court that this practice went against the U.S. Constitution. This ruling helped to end all forms of legalized segregation, or separation, by race.
In 1961 President John F. Kennedy made Marshall a judge. In 1965 President Lyndon B. Johnson made Marshall the U.S. solicitor general. In that job he represented the government in cases before the Supreme Court. Then in 1967 Johnson put Marshall on the Supreme Court.
As a Supreme Court justice, Marshall continued to support equal rights for blacks. He also opposed the death penalty. Marshall retired in 1991. He died in Bethesda, Maryland, on January 24, 1993.