History & Culture

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The Brown v. Board of Education decision is far more complex than a little girl whose parents sued to get her into an all-white school. This landmark victory for equality was decades in the making. Attorneys, parents, scientists, activists, and students struggled to steer the nation toward justice. After the decision, and even today, there is more work to be done by everyday citizens with a common goal -- equality.

More information can also be found in this guide or the site's official Historic Resource Study. Read the report online.
 
  • statue of a buffalo in cushinberry park, Topeka, KS.
    From Segregation to Incarceration

    The End of African American Higher Education Institutes in Kansas

  • Nine justices sit in their judicial robes
    Court Decisions

    The decisions from the highest court in the land shaped the world we live in today.

  • Thurgood Marshall sits in a grey suit leaning forward with his hands clasped.
    Thurgood Marshall

    Thurgood Marshall led a life in the pursuit of equality, and was on a path destined to lead him to the U.S. Supreme Court. Read More...

  • Liberty Hill, a one room wood and tar paper shack of a school in Clarendon county South Carolina.
    Briggs v. Elliott

    When their petition for buses was ignored, 20 parents in South Carolina filed suit to challenge segregation itself.

  • Brown doll in front of a photo of an African American child choosing between a while and brown doll.
    Clark Doll Test

    The Clark Doll test was instrumental to the Brown v. Board of Education case.

  • Charles Hamilton Houston poses for a head and shoulders portrait in a grey suit.
    Charles Hamilton Houston

    Houston developed a "Top-Down" integration strategy, and became known as "The Man Who Killed Jim Crow" for his desegregation work.

  • Head and shoulders portrait of Oliver Brown in his pulpit robes.
    Rev. Oliver L. Brown

    Rev. Oliver Leon Brown served as lead plaintiff, one of 13 plaintiffs, in the Board v. Board of Education U.S. Supreme Court case.

  • tar paper school building
    The Five Cases

    Brown v. Board was the bundling of 5 cases regarding segregation. Learn about the others here.

  • Monroe Elementary, a seemingly equal facility
    Brown v. Board of Education

    Started by the NAACP, 13 parents in Topeka, KS. enrolled their children in white schools but were refused.

 

African American Experience Fund

The mission of the African American Experience Fund of the National Park Foundation is to preserve African American history by supporting education programs in National Parks that celebrate African American history and culture. There are 26 National Parks identified by the African American Experience Fund:

Last updated: August 11, 2023

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Contact Info

Mailing Address:

1515 SE Monroe Street
Topeka, KS 66612-1143

Phone:

785 354-4273

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