The Civil Rights Movement from 1865 to 1954: Brown v. Board of Education

Where did the case take place?

Topeka, Kansas

When did the case happen?

1951

What was the case?

The NAACP sued the local school board on behalf of 3rd grader Linda Brown

What was the biggest taboo in the South regarding schools?

If schools weren’t segregated, black and white kids would intermingle, potentially end up dating, and marry each other

What did Brown have to do just to get to school?

Walk six blocks to her school bus stop and drive several miles to get to her segregated black school, despite living seven blocks away from a white school

Who led the case?

Thurgood Marshall

What did the NAACP do during the case?

Combined a set of 5 cases from around the world of similar situations to Browns into one set of arguments

What was the outcome?

Earl Warren, the Supreme Court Justice at the end of the trial, stating that in a unanimous decision “separate but equal” has no place in the constitution

What did the ruling mark for US history?

It marked the end of the Jim Crow era constitutionally

What was the South’s response to the ruling?

The “Southern Manifesto” written in the US congress, which formally condemned racial integration of public places

Who signed the “Southern Manifesto”?

97 Southern Democrats and 3 Southern Republicans