News Release

In Celebration of Women's History Month Park Features Quilt Exhibit and Dramatic Play, The Hillsboro Story

Date: February 28, 2011

Release date: February 28, 2011
Contact: Justin Sochacki
Phone number: [phone]

Topeka, KS – In celebration of Women's History Month, Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site will feature two exciting public programs. On display beginning March 1 is Sankofa: Lessons Learned, a spectacular exhibition of quilts created by local quilt artist, Marla Jackson. In commemoration of the 55th anniversary of the Hillsboro, Ohio desegregation case, the park will also host a performance of the dramatic play, The Hillsboro Story at 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 6. All programs are free and open to the public and will take place at Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site.

From March 1- March 30, the park will feature Sankofa: Lessons Learned. Each of the sixteen quilts on display represents women as they move through their lives, learning lessons of joy, loss, family, and love. Originally from Royal Oak Township in Michigan, Jackson spent many weekends and summers with her paternal grandparents, Rufus and Zelma Crum and her formerly enslaved great-grandmother, Lucille Crum. Her artistic direction was influenced by her family's stories, and her quilts depict scenes and themes that capture the pride, spirit, pain, and joy of the African American experience. The primary goal of her work is to reveal the untold stories of heroes that history has overlooked, forgotten, or hidden. The exhibit is free and open to the public daily from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and will also be open for the First Friday Art Walk on March 4, from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

The Hillsboro Story is a powerful drama that opens in Hillsboro, Ohio on July 5, 1954 when the town's segregated elementary school erupts into flames. Despite an 1887 law outlawing segregated schools in Ohio, the Hillsboro school board created a segregated school when it transferred all African American students in the integrated Webster School to Lincoln Elementary School in 1939. With the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, parents assumed their children would be able to attend the all-white Webster and Washington schools. When the school board resisted integration, one man set fire to the all-black Lincoln school, in hopes of hastening an end to segregation. The action sparks a two-year battle resulting in Clemons v. Hillsboro Board of Education. Playwright Susan Banyas was a third-grader in Hillsboro when this powerful story began to unfold. Her play weaves together spoken word, movement, monologue, and visual imagery that is culled from historical research and interviews with individuals at the center of the story. Seating is limited for this performance. Please RSVP by March 4 via email by clicking here or by calling [phone].

Programs are co-sponsored by Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site and the Brown Foundation for Educational, Equity, Excellence, and Research and are part of the 2010-2011 program series titled Commemorating Our Nation's Struggle for Freedom: From Civil War to Civil Rights. For a list of all events and exhibits in the annual program series, please visit www.nps.gov/brvb and click on the Special Events link.

Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site tells the story of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that ended legal segregation in public schools. The site is located at 1515 SE Monroe Street in Topeka, Kansas, and is open free of charge from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, with the exceptions of Thanksgiving, December 25, and January 1. For more information, visit www.nps.gov/brvb or call [phone].