• Exterior of Brown v. Board of Education NHS, the former Monroe Elementary School, at night.

    Brown v. Board of Education

    National Historic Site Kansas

  • Got a Story?

    The community has been talking and the National Park Service has been listening. Topekans want to see their stories told at their national park. We invite you to join us at 2 p.m. on May 17 to learn about the park's new Oral History Project. More »

Photo Gallery

Rehabilitation of the former Monroe Elementary School
Facility manager Treva Harris documented the first phase of the rehabilitation which took place from 2001 through 2003.

 
 

 

 

Topeka Segregation Cases 1879-1951
Historian Thom Rosenblum has found images related to the segregation of Topeka's public school system from 1879 to 1951. To read more about segregation in Topeka, click here.

 
 

Forging Freedom's Pathway

On June 11, 2011, visitors leisurely strolled with uniformed park rangers from the historic John Ritchie House to the formerly segregated Monroe Elementary School, meeting six costumed reenactors along the way. Beginning at the home of a prominent abolitionist and operator on the Underground Railroad and ending at a formerly segregated elementary school, visitors walked from the birth of the Civil War to the birth of the Civil Rights Movement in just under a half-mile.

 

Did You Know?

Black children sitting in desks in classroom with teacher

The Brown v. Board of Education U.S. Supreme Court decision involved more than 150 plaintiffs from five states.--Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site More...