The Brown Foundation for Educational Equity, Excellence and Research was established in 1988 as a living tribute to the attorneys and plaintiffs in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision of 1954, Brown v. Board of Education. This decision signaled the end of legal segregation on the basis of race in this country. The Brown family and community leaders in Topeka, Kansas, established the Foundation to commemorate and document the activities and history makers involved in this historic court case.

To learn more about the Brown Foundation, please visit their website at http://brownvboard.org.

Cooperating Associations are one of the oldest and most enduring partnerships of the National Park Service. Developed in 1920 with the founding of the Yosemite Museum Association, cooperating associations were formed in response to visitor needs for inexpensive, quality guides, maps and other interpretive literature not otherwise available through the use of Federal funds. Interested individuals, educational institutes and preservation societies joined with park naturalists, historians and interpreters to produce and make available such information.

Today there are 64 cooperating associations operating in nearly 325 national park units. These mission-driven private, non-profit corporations are established under state law and support the educational, scientific, historical, and interpretive activities of the National Park Service. They also adhere to applicable law governing federal tax-exempt 501(c)( 3) organizations. Cooperating associations operate under formal agreement with the Service and are subject to policy found in National Park Service Management Policies 2001 (7.6.2 Cooperating Associations) and Director's Order #32 with guidance provided in Reference Manual 32.