Benton Ave. AME Church (Springfield, Missouri)

African American Civil Rights Network

Benton Avenue African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church, located in Springfield Missouri, was indirectly related to the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark civil rights case, Brown v. Board of Education.

Following the integration of Springfield Public Schools in 1955, Rev. Oliver L. Brown was transferred from Topeka, Kansas to Benton Avenue A.M.E. in 1959. As the lead plaintiff in the landmark case Oliver Brown et al. vs. the Board of Education of Topeka, Rev. Brown must have provided great inspiration to the Benton Avenue A.M.E. congregation and the entire Springfield African American population as they crossed the previous boundaries of segregation.

In the summer of 1950, Rev. Brown was one of thirteen parents in Topeka who volunteered to participate in a local NAACP initiative to fight the system of school segregation. The parents took their children to the all-white schools in their neighborhoods to enroll them for the fall. Refused admission, the children were forced to attend one of the four segregated schools in Topeka, which for most meant traveling a long distance from their homes. For the Browns, their daughter Linda was not allowed to attend the nearby Sumner Elementary School, so had to attend segregated Monroe Elementary School. The parents filed suit against the Topeka Board of Education on behalf of their 20 children. Rev. Brown was the first parent listed in the suit, so the case was named for him as it moved through the courts. The case became known as Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark Supreme Court case that ended segregation in U.S. pubic schools.

Benton Avenue African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church became part of the African American Civil Rights Network in 2023.

The African American Civil Rights Network recognizes the African American Civil Rights Movement in the United States and the sacrifices made by those who fought against discrimination and segregation. Created by the African American Civil Rights Act of 2017, and coordinated by the National Park Service, the Network tells the stories of the people, places, and events of the U.S. African American Civil Rights Movement through a collection of public and private resources to include properties, facilities, and programs.