KidPix pictures by Alex B. & Kyle K.

    Since Linda Brown was turned away from the Sumner School, she went back to Monroe School. One day she went to a meeting in an unfamiliar church with her father. She was called to the podium, where the pastor said, "Why should this child be forced to travel so far to school each day?"

Group members: Joshua, Alex B., Ian, Daniel H., and Kyle K.

KidPix picture by Taylor M.

     Both the Monroe School and the Sumner School had good teachers who were paid about the same amount of money. Just like the children, all of the teachers at the Monroe School were black, and all of the teachers at the Sumner School were white. The authorities said that whites and blacks should be segregated because people were used to it being that way, and not everyone wanted to change. Our group believes that the authorities should allow people of any race or color to go to the school that is closest, because the Declaration of Independence states that all men are equal.

Group Members: Sachin, Taylor, Matt S., and Chris M.

     With the help of the NAACP (National Association for Advancement of Colored People), Oliver Brown sued the Topeka Board of Education. The school authorities argued in court that it was OK for white and black kids to be seperated or segregated, as long as the two schools were "equal." 

Group Members: Connell, Chris M., Rameen, and Hunter

KidPix picture by Andrew W.

     The people who testified in the first court case said that the children should not be seperated. They said it was the worst idea because when the children grew to be adults, they would not work well together in society. That is why they argued that children should be allowed to go to the school closest to their home, no matter if they are white or black.

Group Members: Goran, Andrew W. Jes S., and John S.

Government photo: 
U.S. Supreme Court

     With the help of the NAACP, Mr. Brown, and other parents of children like Linda, took their case to the Supreme Court in 1953. A lawyer named Thurgood Marshall helped to prove that "seperate but equal" was not equal, and a year later, the court made a very important decision.

Group members: Thomas I., Gray, Nick D., and Creighton

KidPix picture by Taylor M.

     The decision that the Supreme court made was one of the most important decisions that was made in the history of the United States. The court ruled that segregation was wrong, and that black and white people should be allowed to go to school together. 

Group Members: Sachin, Taylor, Charles, Chris M., and Matthew S.