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Hi, my name is Fatima Purvis, and I'm a park guide at Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site.
Today, we will learn a little bit about Charles Hamilton Houston.
Charles Hamilton Houston was born on September 3, 1895, to attorney William Le Pré Houston and Mary E. Hamilton Houston.
At the age of 15, Charles Hamilton Houston, a native of Washington, D.C., graduated from high school.
He attended Amherst College and graduated with honors in 1915.
In 1919, Charles Houston enrolled as a student at Harvard Law School.
While at Harvard, Houston would become one of the first African American editors of the Harvard Law Review.
He earned a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1922 and a Doctor of Laws degree in 1923.
A year later, he would go on to teach at Howard University School of Law, part of a historically Black university.
In 1929, Houston would become vice dean.
During his time as vice dean, the Howard University School of Law would train roughly one-quarter of the nation's Black law students.
Throughout his tenure, he would mentor several notable African American civil rights lawyers, such as Oliver Hill and Thurgood Marshall.
Charles Hamilton Houston became the first special counsel for the NAACP in the 1930s.
Houston is widely credited with helping to end legalized segregation with a handheld camera.
Houston and Thurgood Marshall would travel throughout the South to document the unfair and unequal conditions that African Americans faced.
With Houston's leadership, the NAACP strategically fought to integrate schools, starting with higher education and then public education.
His groundwork and mentorship helped establish the legal foundation for overturning the "separate but equal" doctrine established by the Supreme Court's 1896 decision in Plessy v. Ferguson.
Dr. Charles Hamilton Houston fell ill prior to the filing of the Bolling v. Sharpe case.
Bolling v. Sharpe challenged school segregation in Washington, D.C., and was decided alongside Brown v. Board of Education in 1954. Although it was not one of the four cases consolidated under Brown, it addressed the same fundamental issue of racial segregation in public education.
The four consolidated cases became known as Oliver Brown et al. v. Board of Education of Topeka et al.
Houston was not directly involved in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision, but he is credited with laying the groundwork for that decision, thus paving the way for the modern civil rights movement.
Written and performed by Fatima Purvis.
Produced by Preston Webb.
Courtesy photo from the Library of Congress.
Music by Rafael Crooks.
Descriptive Transcript
Charles Hamilton Houston Biography AD
0:00 National Park Service logo Fatima Purvis NHS She has dark skin and collar length hair, wearing a park uniform and glasses and is standing behind the podium in front of a pioneers of desegregation museum display.
0:12 Hi, my name is Fatima Purvis and I'm a park guide at Brown V Board of Education National Historic site.
0:20 Today we will learn a little bit about Charles Hamilton Houston.
0:24 A photo of Charles Hamilton Houston with short hair, wearing a suit, tie, and pocket square.
0:30 Charles Hamilton Houston was born on September 3rd, 1895 to attorney William Houston and Larry Houston A St.
0:39 Houston.
0:40 At the age of 15, Charles Hamilton Houston, a native of Washington, DC, graduated from high school.
0:49 He attended Amherst College and graduated with honors in 1915.
0:55 In 1919, Charles Houston enrolled as a student at Harvard Law School.
1:01 While at Harvard, Houston will become one of the first African American editors of the Harvard Law Review.
1:10 He earned a Bachelor of Law in 1922 and a Doctor of Law degree in 1923.
1:18 A year later, he would go on to teach at Howard University's Schools of Law, a historical black college slash university.
1:27 In 1929, Houston would become Vice team.
1:32 During his time as a vice team, the Howard University School of Law would roughly train 1/4 of the nation's black law students.
1:42 Throughout his tenure, he would mentor several notable African American civil rights lawyers such as Oliver Hill and Thurgood Marshall.
1:53 Charles Hamilton Houston became the 1st Special Counsel for the NAACP in the 1930s.
2:01 Houston is widely credited with helping to end legalized segregation with a handheld camera.
2:10 Houston and Thurgen Marshall would travel throughout the South to document the unfair and equal conditions of the African American that African Americans face.
2:20 With Houston's leadership, the NAACP strategically fought to integrate schools, starting with higher education and then public education.
2:29 His groundwork and mentorship helped set the precedent for overturning the 1896 Supreme Court.
2:36 Separate buddy doctor Charles Hamilton Houston fell I'll prior to the filing of the Goalie B Sharp case.
2:44 This case, in conjunction with four other cases, what become known as Olive, Brown ET all, be the Board of Education of Topeka ET All.
2:55 Houston was not directly involved with the Brown before landmark decision, but he is credited with laying the groundwork for the Brown decision, thus paving the way for the modern civil rights movement.
Park Guide Fatimah Purvis takes us through the life and achievements of Charles Hamilton Houston, the man who 'killed' Jim Crow. Houston led the development of the NAACP's plan and approach to challenge segregation, which eventually led to the Brown v. Board of Education decision.
Dr. Mendoza: Hi, I am Valerie Mendoza, and I am the director of the Title III Strengthening Institutions grant at Washburn University.
Interviewer: What made you want to become a professor?
Dr. Mendoza: Well, the, I guess the way I got interested in it was I was a history major in college, and I really wasn't sure what to do with that afterwards.
And after I got, you know, my four-year degree, but then I was like, oh, I'm really good at going to school.
So I went on to get my graduate degree at the University of California, Berkeley, in history as well.
And from there, it was just kind of this natural progression to go to university.
But my inspiration would be my dad. He was a first-generation college student and the first one in his family to get a college degree. And so I just wanted to keep rolling with what he started.
Interviewer: That's cool. All right. Who was your mentor, or did you have someone who inspired you to become a professor?
Dr. Mendoza: Other than my dad, in terms of history, it would be my grandmother, Hazel.
She was like this amateur historian. And after she died, I realized how much—so she kept everything. She was a child of the Depression, so she, you know, just kept all sorts of things.
But the greatest treasures were the things she kept. She would cut out any newspaper article related to the Mexican community, not just in Topeka but in Kansas and, you know, all around the country, if that article had, you know, some sort of significance.
One of the other things she did was she—it sounds kind of morbid—but she would cut out obituaries for any community member of [Mexican community — check whether "the" was spoken] here in Topeka.
And that has turned out to be a real treasure trove because obituaries are full of all sorts of information, right? Like where the person was born.
So in this case, with a lot of the obituaries she cut out, a lot of the people were born in Mexico. So it was like my own personal, you know, genealogical, you know, stash.
So where they lived—addresses were often in obituaries back in the day—so you could kind of plot on a map, you know, where the Mexican community was.
So it's been a—it was a really great source for me.
Interviewer: Wow. What is Mendez v. Westminster?
Dr. Mendoza: Okay, so Westminster—or I should say, I'm going to correct myself. I'm going to say [Mendez F Paul — likely "Mendez et al. v. Westminster"]—was a segregation case in California in 1947.
So in California, schools were segregated by race, and Mexican children in this post-World War II society—this was in Southern California, in particular Orange County, which a lot of us might have heard of through, you know, popular culture these days.
But the Mexican children were segregated into separate schools at the time, and it was mainly due to their last name.
Pedagogically, the school boards were like, oh, they don't speak English. And so that's why they're having to go to a different, a different school, because they will impede the learning of the white, the white children. And we don't want that. So we're going to send them to this separate school.
But that wasn't true. Even children, they never got a language test. It just was based on, you know, the surname, and the kids were sent to the segregated Mexican school.
And [his schools in the South were blacks — unclear; likely a comparison with segregated Black schools in the South].
The segregated Mexican schools were also inferior, right? Rundown shacks, you know, their schoolbooks, things like that, were the leftovers, you know, the [can be downs — unclear]. Schoolyards were nonexistent, you know, playgrounds, things like that.
And so a lot of—during the World War II era, you had this second generation of Mexican community people who had been born in the United States and who wanted to assert their rights as Americans and did not want that second-class citizenship of being segregated [schools — check whether "in" was spoken].
So it was kind of like this confluence of different families throughout Orange County in different cities, [we're — likely "who were"] like, no, we don't want our kids to go to segregated schools.
So they filed a class-action lawsuit in a federal court challenging the California law against segregation.
And the reason this is important is because it used a lot of the same arguments that would later be used in the Brown v. Board case.
Now, the California case would only challenge state—it was only a state, at the state level, so it didn't have the nationwide impact that Brown did.
But it was the arguments there kind of, you know, poked holes into, you know, the reasons for having segregated schools.
Interviewer: So who is Mendez?
Dr. Mendoza: So the Mendez family is a family that lived in Westminster, California. They were farmers.
And the story goes that when they moved to this new city, Westminster, the Mendez children were sent to be enrolled in the white school with their aunt and two cousins.
So the aunt and the cousins were lighter-skinned, and the principal enrolled them readily.
But when it came time to enroll the two Mendez children who were darker-skinned and had the surname Mendez, the principal's like, no, I'm sorry, they can't go here. They need to go to the Mexican school.
And that didn't just sound right to their aunt. And so she went home. She told her brother, hey, the principal won't let me enroll my kids in the school.
And Gonzalo Mendez, who was the father, he was like, no, that's not right. I'll take care of it.
So [we went — likely "he went"] and talked to the principal. Principal was like, sorry, it's, you know, school district policy, [there's something I can do — likely "there's nothing I can do"].
And so Gonzalo Mendez was like, well, we'll see about that.
[Until we went — likely "And so he went"] to the school district, and the school district was like, no, sorry, the superintendent, this is our policy. Mexican kids go to the Mexican school.
And so he just, you know, again, did not think that was the right, you know, he wanted equity for his kids to go to the school that, you know, he wanted them to go to, that was in their district, so that they wouldn't have to go to a school farther away.
And so again, at that same time, in other schools, [school cities — unclear] around Orange County, other parents were going through similar, similar issues.
And so they found this lawyer in Los Angeles who had tried other segregation cases with Mexican, Mexican families.
His last name was Marcus.
And he told Mendez, well, if you get other families and we can make this a class-action lawsuit, I think, I think we have a shot at, you know, making a change.
And so because the Mendez family had lived in another city in Orange County, Santa Ana, before, they knew people all throughout the county.
And so the parents came together. They held fundraisers to pay for the attorney. They went knocking door to door to, you know, recruit other parents to be part of this [law school — likely "lawsuit"].
And in the end, five families were representative of, you know, several thousand children.
It was Mendez, Guzman, Ramirez, Palomino, and Estrada, and they sued in federal court.
They didn't want to sue in the state court because they figured, well, if you're suing the state court and we win, California's just going to change their law, and then it won't be against the law for them to segregate Mexican children.
So in federal court, they sued and they won.
They said it was unconstitutional for Mexican children to be segregated and used, you know, sociological evidence that was later used towards Brown.
They won the case against the school district, but the school district appealed, and it went up to the next higher-level court.
And that is where we get some really interesting connections between Brown v. Board, because in the appeal, the NAACP got involved and filed an amicus brief, saying, hey, we agree with, you know, the plaintiffs that this, the segregated schools, isn't, isn't right.
And Thurgood Marshall was one of the lawyers who consulted with Mendez's lawyer, Marcus.
The other really interesting kind of connection between Mendez and Brown was, at the time, Earl Warren.
At the time of the Mendez case, Earl Warren was governor of California. So he very much was following this case.
And then Earl Warren later became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court during Brown. So he kind of, you know, had some background in segregation cases.
Interviewer: So what was happening in the Topeka Hispanic neighborhood prior to the Brown decision?
Dr. Mendoza: Prior to the Brown decision?
So in Topeka, you have what I would call de facto segregation, right?
Most of the Mexican community who came to Topeka did so to work on the Santa Fe Railroad.
And so those families ended up settling near the Santa Fe shops down in the Oakland area of Topeka.
So it would be kind of like north, north Topeka, and also the area that was known as the Bottoms back then.
And so they, so they were basically in a segregated neighborhood as well and went to—in terms of schools, they, a lot of kids, like my dad, went to Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic School.
That was kind of the school [for a lot of Mexican kids went to — check wording].
But there was also a segregated public school for a really long time called Branner Annex that a lot of the Mexican kids went to, that was also down in that Oakland area as well.
After a while, I'm not sure what year, I don't remember, but it was—that school was condemned because it was just in such bad shape.
So, yeah.
Interviewer: Were there segregated schools in Topeka for Mexican American students?
Dr. Mendoza: Yeah.
So the Our Lady of Guadalupe School, the Branner School, and then my mom went to Lincoln Grade School, which is at the site—you're from Topeka—it's apparently where the Ramada Inn downtown is. That's where that school used to be.
And that was a little bit more mixed. She went after the Brown decision was, was when she was in school there.
But in terms of the segregated schools, Our Lady of Guadalupe, like I said, it was Catholic and private, so it was taught by nuns.
Branner Annex was, like, really crowded. Again, it was one of those schools that was, I think there were just like a couple of rooms.
So you had, like, all the children went together and, you know, divided among a couple of rooms.
I remember reading that, you know, it didn't have very good heating, so it was cold all the time in the winter.
Again, they didn't have, you know, school supplies that were equal to elementary schools in, you know, for white children, that sort of thing.
So, yeah, for sure.
Interviewer: Would you describe Topeka as a diverse community?
Dr. Mendoza: I think for a city of its size, especially back then, that it was a diverse community. Nowadays as well.
And I think, you know, it's getting more and more diverse.
We have a lot of new Latino immigrants that have come to Topeka over the last few decades, so that has led to its diversity.
I have a child in the 501 school district. He goes to Topeka High.
And that school, one of the reasons we chose it—and we actually moved into the district purposefully so that he could go to Topeka High—and one of the reasons that we chose it was because of its diversity, not just its racial diversity but also its economic diversity.
You know, it's, we really, we really enjoy that district.
And, and of course, that's the district that was sued with the Brown case.
Interviewer: What are some other ways people can celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month in September, October, and beyond?
Dr. Mendoza: Yeah.
So the library, the public library, has an exhibit up right now called [Lock Community Dodd — verify exhibition title], and it's filled with artwork from local Latino artists.
So it has, you know, what we normally think of art, right, paintings and things like that.
But it also has some costumes in it from the local folklorical dance troupe, which are works of art in and of themselves, because they're just, like, really colorful and beautifully, intricately made.
The Kansas poet laureate, [Waska Medina — verify name], is Latino as well.
And he has a—what I want to say, it's more than a poem. It's like this, a visual art piece where it's on a screen and he's reciting some poetry, but it also has some really other lovely images in there.
So it's well worth everybody's time to check that out.
And I know they have companion programming going on throughout, throughout October.
The Chamber of Commerce, I'm going to be speaking at their Hispanic Heritage Month celebration on October 14th.
It's at the Jayhawk Gallery, which is right next to the Jayhawk Theatre, [530 — likely "5:30"].
Interviewer: And what advice do you have for the youngest generation of Hispanics?
Dr. Mendoza: Oh, wow.
I would say be proud of who you are. You know, don't, don't ever let anybody make you feel ashamed of who you are.
Draw on your heritage for strength because you have really powerful ancestors, and be the best that you can be.
I think would be my [my best friend producer — unclear; likely "my best advice"].
Interviewer: Anything you'd like to add?
Dr. Mendoza: I guess I would just say that, you know, in terms of both the Mendez case and segregation in Topeka, I mean, those, for the Mexican community, segregation in Topeka for the Mexican community, those aren't things that are really well known or talked about very much.
And I think both this documentary that's going to accompany this about the Mendez case, you know, it just shows that, you know, racial issues in this country are [more the black and white — likely "more than Black and white"], right?
They're really complex.
And so I thank you all for doing this.
Interviewer: Thank you for coming.
Dr. Mendoza: Yeah.
Special thanks to Valerie Mendoza, Washburn University.
Interview by Randall Standing Water, park guide.
Produced by Preston Webb, park ranger.
Descriptive Transcript
Valerie Mendoza Interview ADupdated
0:00 The National Park Service logo.
0:05 To learn more about the Mendez versus Westminster case, we sat down with Doctor Valerie Mendoza of Washburn University.
0:12 A table is in a tan and top room with a chalkboard and American flag.
0:16 Doctor Mendoza and a Ranger are sitting across from each other with papers in front of each of them.
0:21 Doctor Mendoza is smiling with dark WAVY hair and is wearing dark glasses and a coral colored sheath dress, rainbow standing water park guide, brown versus board and a chess, has straight combed over dark hair and is wearing a park Ranger uniform.
0:35 Please give us your name and title.
0:38 Hi, I am Valerie Mendoza and I am the director of the Title 3 Strengthening Institutions grant at Washburn University.
0:50 What made you want to become a professor?
0:55 Well, the, I guess the way the way I got interested in it was I was a history major in college and I really wasn't sure what to do with that afterwards.
1:07 And after I got, you know, my four year degree, but then I was like, oh, I'm really good at going to school.
1:13 So I went on to get my graduate degree at the University of California, Berkeley in history as well.
1:20 And from there it was just kind of this natural progression to go to university.
1:27 But my inspiration would be my dad.
1:31 He he was a first generation college student and the first one in his family to get a college degree.
1:38 And so I just wanted to to keep rolling with what he started.
1:43 That's cool.
1:44 All right.
1:47 Who was your mentor or did you have someone who inspired you to become professor?
1:53 Other than my dad, in terms of history, it would be my grandmother, Hazel.
1:58 She was like this amateur historian.
2:02 And after she died, I I realized how much So she kept everything.
2:08 She was a child of the Depression, so she, you know, just kept all sorts of things.
2:15 But the greatest treasures were the things she kept.
2:18 She would cut out any newspaper article related to the Mexican community, not just in Topeka but in Kansas and, you know, all around the country, if that article had, you know, some sort of significance.
2:33 One of the other things she did was she, it sounds kind of morbid, but she would cut out obituaries for any community member of Mexican community here in Topeka.
2:43 And that has turned out to be a real treasure trove because obituaries are full of all sorts of information, right?
2:50 Like where the person was born.
2:52 So in this case, with a lot of the obituaries she cut out, a lot of the people were born in Mexico.
2:58 So it was like my own personal, you know, genealogical, you know, stash.
3:06 So where they lived, addresses were often in obituaries back in the day.
3:11 So you could kind of plot on a map, you know, where the Mexican community was.
3:16 So it's been a, it was a really great source for me.
3:20 Wow.
3:25 What is Mendez versus Westminster?
3:29 OK, so Westminster, or I should say I'm going to correct myself, I'm going to say Mendez F Paul, the Westminster was a segregation case in California in 1947.
3:45 So in California, schools were segregated by race and Mexican children in this post World War 2 society.
3:59 This was in Southern California, in particular Orange County, which a lot of us might have heard of through, you know, popular culture these days.
4:07 But the Mexican children were segregated into separate schools at at the time, and it was mainly due to their last name.
4:24 Pedagogically, the school boards were like, oh, they don't speak English.
4:28 And so that's why they're having to go to a different a different school because they will impede the learning of the white, the white children.
4:34 And we don't want that.
4:35 So we're going to send them to this separate school.
4:38 But that wasn't true.
4:39 Even children, they never got a language test.
4:42 It just was based on, you know, that the surname and the kids were sent to the segregated Mexican school and his schools in the South were blacks.
4:52 The segregated Mexican schools were also inferior, right rundown shacks, you know, the their school books, things like that were the leftovers, you know, the can be downs school yards were non existent, you know, playgrounds, things like that.
5:14 And so a lot of during the World War 2 era, you had this second generation of Mexican community people who had been born in the United States and who were wanted to assert their rights as Americans and did not want that second class citizenship of being segregated schools.
5:37 So it was kind of like this confluence of different families throughout Orange County in different cities.
5:45 We're like, no, we don't want our kids to go to segregated schools.
5:50 So they filed a class action lawsuit in a federal court challenging the California law against segregation.
6:04 And the reason this is important is because it used a lot of the same arguments that would later be used in the Brown V Board case.
6:14 Now, the California case would only challenge state.
6:17 It was only a state at the state level, so it didn't have the nationwide impact that Brown did.
6:25 But it was the arguments there kind of, you know, poked holes into, you know, the reasons for having segregated schools.
6:37 So who is Mendez?
6:44 So the Mendez family is a family that lived in Westminster, CA.
6:53 They were farmers.
6:56 And the story goes that when they moved to this new city, Westminster, the Mendez children were sent to be enrolled in the White school with their aunt and two cousins.
7:19 So the aunt and the cousins were lighter skinned and the principal enrolled them readily.
7:24 But when it came time to enroll the two Mendez children who were darker skinned and had the surname Mendez, the principal's like, no, I'm sorry, they can't go here.
7:32 They need to go to the Mexican school.
7:35 And that didn't just sound right to to their aunt.
7:40 And so she went home.
7:42 She told her brother, Hey, the principal won't let me enroll my kids in the school.
7:46 And Gonzalo Mendez, who was the father, he was like, no, that's not right.
7:50 I'll take care of it.
7:51 So we went and talked to the principal.
7:54 Principal was like, sorry, it's, you know, school district policy, there's something I can do.
8:01 And so Gonzalo Mendez was like, well, we'll see about that.
8:05 Until we went to the school district and the school district was like, no, sorry, the Superintendent, this is our our policy.
8:14 Mexican kids go to the Mexican school.
8:18 And so he just, you know, again, did not think that was the right, you know, he wanted equity for his kids to go to the school that that, you know, he wanted them to go to that was that was in their district so that they won't have to go to a school farther away.
8:39 And so again, at that same time in other schools, school cities around the Orange County, other parents were going through similar, similar issues.
8:53 And so they found this lawyer in Los Angeles who had tried other segregation cases with Mexican, Mexican families.
9:04 His last name was Marcus.
9:06 And he told Mendez, well, if you get other families and we can make this a class action lawsuit, I think, I think we have a shot at, you know, making a change.
9:16 And so because the Mendez family had lived in another city in Orange County, Santa Ana, before, they knew what people all throughout the county.
9:26 And so they parents came together.
9:29 They held fundraisers to pay for the attorney.
9:35 They went knocking door to door to, you know, recruit other parents to be part of this law school.
9:45 And in the end, five families were representative of, you know, several thousand children.
9:52 It was Mendez, Guzman, Ramirez, Palomino and Estrada, and they sued in federal court.
10:02 They didn't want to sue in the state court because they figured, well, if you're suing the state court and we win, California's just going to change their law, and then it won't be against the law for them to segregate Mexican children.
10:16 So in federal court, they sued and they won.
10:19 They said it was unconstitutional for Mexican children to be segregated and used, you know, sociological evidence that was later used towards Brown.
10:34 They won the case against the school district, but the school district appealed and it went up to the next higher level court.
10:49 And that is where we get some really interesting connections between Brown V Board because in the appeal, the N double ACP got involved and filed an amicus brief and saying, hey, we agree with, you know, that the plaintiffs that this is the segregated schools isn't isn't right.
11:11 And Thurgood Marshall was one of the lawyers who consulted with Mendez lawyer Marcus.
11:22 The other really interesting kind of connection between Mendez and Brown was at the time Earl Warren.
11:28 At the time of the Mendez case, Earl Warren was governor of California.
11:33 So he very much was following this case.
11:37 And then Earl Warren later became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court during Brown.
11:42 So he kind of, you know, had some background in in segregation cases.
11:54 So what was happening in the Topeka Hispanic neighborhood prior to the Brown decision?
12:01 Prior to the Brown decision?
12:04 So in Topeka, you have what I would call de facto segregation, right?
12:14 Most of the Mexican community who came to Topeka did so to work on the Santa Fe Railroad.
12:19 And so those families ended up settling near the Santa Fe shops down in the Oakland area of Topeka.
12:30 So it would be kind of like north north Topeka and also the area that was known as the Bottoms back then.
12:39 And so they, so they were basically in a segregated neighborhood as well and went to in terms of schools, they, a lot of kids, like my dad went to Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic School.
13:01 That was kind of the school for a lot of Mexican kids went to.
13:06 But there was also a segregated public school for a really long time called Branner Annex that a lot of the Mexican kids went to that was also down in that Oakland area as well.
13:21 After a while, I'm not sure what year, I don't remember, but it was that school was condemned because it was just in such bad shape.
13:29 So yeah.
13:36 Were there segregated schools in Topeka for Mexican American students?
13:42 Yeah.
13:43 So the Our Lady Guadalupe School, the Branner School, and then my mom went to Lincoln grade School, which is at the site.
13:55 You're from Topeka.
13:56 It's the apparently it's where the Ramada Inn downtown is.
14:00 That's where that school used to be.
14:03 And that was a little bit more mixed.
14:06 She went after the Brown decision was was when she was in school there.
14:13 But in terms of the segregated schools, Our Lady of Guadalupe, like I said, it was a Catholic and private, so it was taught by nuns.
14:24 Branner Annex was like really crowded.
14:27 Again, it was one of those schools that was, I think there were just like a couple of rooms.
14:33 So you had like all the children went together and, you know, divided among a couple of rooms.
14:39 I remember reading that, you know, it didn't have very good heating, so it was cold all the time in the winter.
14:47 Again, they didn't have, you know, school supplies that were equal to to elementary schools in, you know, for for white children, that sort of thing.
15:00 So, yeah, for sure.
15:04 Would you describe Topeka as a diverse community?
15:10 I think for a city of its size, especially back then, that it was a diverse community nowadays as well.
15:19 And I think, you know, it's getting more and more diverse.
15:26 We have a lot of new Latino immigrants that have come to Topeka over the last few decades.
15:35 So that has led to its diversity.
15:38 I have a child in the five O 1 school district.
15:40 He goes to Topeka High.
15:41 And that school, one of the reasons we chose it, and we actually moved into the district purposefully so that he could go to Topeka High.
15:48 And one of the reasons that we chose it was because of its diversity, not just its racial diversity, but also its economic diversity.
15:57 You know, it's, we really, we really enjoy that district.
16:01 And, and of course, that's the district that was sued with the Brown case.
16:12 What are some other ways people can celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month in September, October and beyond?
16:21 Yeah.
16:21 So the library, the Public Library has an exhibit up right now called Lock Community Dodd, and it's filled with artwork from local Latino artists.
16:34 So it has, you know, what we normally think of art, right, paintings and things like that.
16:38 But it also has some costumes in it from the local folklorical dance, the troupe, which are works of art in and of themselves.
16:48 Because they're just, like, really colorful and beautifully, intricately made.
16:54 The Kansas poet laureate, Waska Medina, is Latino as well.
16:59 And he has a.
17:05 What I want to say it's more than a poem.
17:07 It's like this, a visual art piece where it's on a screen and he's reciting some poetry, but it also has some really other lovely images in there.
17:19 So it's well worth everybody's time to check that out.
17:23 And I know they have companion programming going on throughout throughout October.
17:32 The Chamber of Commerce, I'm going to be speaking at their Hispanic Heritage Month celebration on October 14th.
17:41 It's at the Jayhawk Gallery, which is right next to the Jayhawk Theatre 530.
17:51 And what advice do you have for the youngest generation of Hispanics?
17:57 Oh, wow.
18:00 I would say be proud of who you are, you know, don't don't ever let anybody make you feel ashamed of who you are.
18:10 Draw on your heritage for strength because you have really powerful ancestors and be the best that you can be.
18:24 I think would be my my best friend producer.
18:29 Anything you'd like to add?
18:32 I guess I would just say that, you know, in terms of the both the Mendez case and segregation in Topeka, I mean those for the Mexican community, segregation in Topeka for the Mexican community, those aren't things that are really well known or or talked about very much.
18:57 And I think the both this documentary that's going to accompany this about the Mendez case, you know, it just shows that, you know, racial issues in this country are more the black and white, right?
19:14 They're really complex.
19:17 And so I thank you all for for doing this.
19:22 Thank you for coming.
19:23 Yeah.
19:26 Special thanks to Valerie Mendoza, Washburn University interview by Randall Standing Water park guide produced by Preston Webb, park Ranger the National Park Service logo phase out.
Randy Standingwater sits down with Dr. Valerie Mendoza of Washburn University to discuss the Mendez v. Westminster case and its role in setting the platform for Brown v. Board of Education.
To mark the 67th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision, Park Rangers at the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site sat down with three experts to discuss the case.
Hello, I'm Fatima Purvis, and I'm a park guide at the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site.
Welcome back to our Reading with the Rangers segment.
With the permission of HarperCollins Publishers, I will be reading Coretta Scott by Ntozake Shange and illustrated by Kadir Nelson.
Some southern mornings, the moon sits like an orange sliver by the treetops.
Coretta and her siblings walked all of five miles to the nearest colored school in the darkness, with the dew dampening their feet.
White school buses left a funnel of dust on their faces.
But songs and birds of all colors and rich soil where slaves sought freedom steadied them in the face of danger.
Over years, learning and freedom took hold of Coretta's soul till she knew in her being that the good Lord intended freedom for the Negro.
Martin Luther King Jr., a young preacher, prayed for freedom.
Coretta prayed to the many attracted in prayer.
Yes, they could do something.
Among the many who thought moral power would overturn Jim Crow, they prayed together, found joy, and were married.
According to Gandhi, the humility of millions could free more than just one people.
It could free the world.
And the world for Coretta and Martin was the South.
And they went to Montgomery, to their new parish.
And the Montgomery Bus Boycott was just the beginning of a long journey.
More boycotts and sit ins, for many Negro students felt bound to do something.
There were hundreds and thousands left behind, Negroes in shacks and cotton fields, living in fear for their lives while they dreamed about the North.
Hundreds, then thousands, white and Black, marched in Alabama, Carolina, Georgia, and Chicago.
A quarter of a million at the March on Washington, peacefully singing "We Shall Overcome" and listening to the words that would inspire a nation.
Things nature never intended a child to see haunted them.
Tragedy accompanies growth, no matter who we are, and the Negro is no different.
But fervor for the coming vote and equality pushed Coretta to peace and wonderment of the Lord.
Ain't going to let nobody turn me round.
Turn me round.
Ain't going to let nobody turn me around.
Going to keep on the walking, keep on the talking.
Walking up to Freedom Land.
Singing, always singing.
Produced by Preston Webb.
Read by Fatima Purvis.
Written by Ntozake Shange
Illustrated by Kadir Nelson.
Music by Ryan Teoh and Alexander Nakarada
HarperCollins Publishers.
Descriptive Transcript
Reading with Ranger Coretta Scott AD
0:00 The National Park Service logo Fatima Purvis NHS she has dark skin and collar length hair with sideswalk bangs, wearing a park uniform and glasses and her hands is the book coretta Scott with the cover as fatima's backdrop.
0:15 Hello, I'm Fatima Purvis and I'm a park guide at the brown V Board of Education National Historic site.
0:22 Welcome back to our Reading with the Rangers segment.
0:25 With the permission of Harper Collins Publishers, I will be reading Coretta Scott by Ntozake Shange and illustrated by Kadir Nelson.
0:36 Fatima is sitting in a chair reading the book with the pages displayed in the background.
0:42 Some southern mornings the moon sits like an orange sliver by the treetops.
0:48 The illustration shows a Crescent moon sitting just above the shadows of trees.
0:58 Coretta and her siblings walked all of five miles to the nearest colored school in the darkness with the dew dampening their feet.
1:07 The illustration shows Coretta and her siblings holding on to books as they walked five miles to the nearest school.
1:14 Three African American children, a boy and two girls, looked down solemnly walking through the trees.
1:20 White school buses left a funnel of dust on their faces.
1:25 But songs and birds of all colors and rich soil where slaves sought freedom steadied them in the face of danger.
1:34 The illustration shows Coretta and her siblings and they are they have their eyes squinted as the funnel of dust kind of brushes across their faces.
1:50 Over years learning and freedom took hold of Coretta's soul till she knew in her being that the good Lord intended freedom for the Negro.
2:02 The illustration shows Coretta staring off into the distance with a a slight smile across her face.
2:12 Martin Luther King Junior, a young preacher, prayed for freedom.
2:16 Coretta prayed to the many attracted in prayer.
2:20 Yes, they could do something.
2:21 Among the many who thought moral power would overturn Jim Crow, they prayed together, found joy, and were married.
2:32 The illustration shows Coretta and Martin praying.
2:39 According to Gandhi, the humility of millions could free more than just one people.
2:45 It could free the world.
2:47 And the world for Coretta and Martin was the South.
2:51 And they went to Montgomery to their new parish.
2:55 The illustration shows Coretta and Martin inside of the Dexter Ave.
2:59 Baptist Church where Doctor King was the pastor.
3:02 Doctor King is standing at the pulpit as Coretta sits in a chair by the side.
3:07 Next to the pulpit is rows of singers and robes in front of a full congregation.
3:15 And the Montgomery Bus Boycot was just the beginning of a long journey.
3:19 The illustration shows people walking past the bus as they participate in the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
3:26 The bus driver with a downturned mouth stands in the bus door with his arms crossed as African American people walk past the door in the rain.
3:34 More boycotts and sit ins for many Negro students felt bound to do something.
3:41 There were hundreds and thousands left behind, Negroes in shacks and cotton fields, living in fear for their lives while they dreamed about the North.
3:54 The illustration shows 4 males participating in a sit in.
3:58 The men are sitting with weary looks looking downward.
4:01 Hundreds, then thousands, white and black, marched in Alabama, Carolina, Georgia and Chicago.
4:12 The illustration shows.
4:14 Doctor King and his friend Ralph Abernathy leading the March.
4:23 1/4 of a million at the March on Washington peacefully singing We Shall Overcome and listening to the words that would inspire a nation.
4:36 The illustration shows 1/4 of a million people at the March on Washington.
4:42 The people are surrounding the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool.
Things nature never intended a child to see haunted them.
4:53 Tragedy accompanies growth no matter who we are and the Negro is no different.
5:00 The illustration shows a full moon and it is just above the shadow lines of the tree and the sky is blue in the background.
5:11 But fervor for the coming vote and equality pushed Coretta to peace and wonderment of the Lord.
5:20 Ain't going to let nobody turn me round.
5:24 Turn me round.
5:26 The illustration shows people as they March for peace and wonderment.
5:33 A silhouette of people from children to adults marching, with a few holding American flags.
5:38 Ain't going to let nobody turn me around.
5:41 Going to keep on The Walking, keep on the talking.
5:45 Walking up to Freedom Land.
5:49 The illustration shows Coretta Martin and other marchers as they March for the right to vote.
5:59 Singing Always Singing.
6:03 The illustration shows Coretta and Martin singing the end.
Join Park Guide Fatimah Purvis as she reads Coretta Scott!
This Reading with a Ranger session follows the life of Coretta Scott King and the rise of the Modern Civil Rights Movement.
(Video audio described by narrator. Written permission from HarperCollins Publisher was granted to make this video)
Join Park Guide Fatimah Purvis as she reads Ruth and the Green Book!
The story follows a young girl named Ruth in the 1950s as her family takes a trip in their new car to visit her grandmother.
During the trip Ruth experiences some harsh realities of what it meant to be African American at the time.
This narrative provides children a glimpse at segregation and can lead to learning opportunities.
(Video audio describe by narrator. Video created with written permission from Lerner Publishing Group)
Ranger Rachel: Allen! Where have you been? Allen the Eagle: Rachel, I have been to some of the most amazing national parks in this country. First, I visited the Statue of Liberty. Now that is one very tall lady. Rachel: She sure is. Over a hundred feet tall. Did you know that the Statue of Liberty was given to America as a gift of friendship from France? Allen: A gift? I bet they needed a really big bow. Rachel: I don’t know about that. But I do know that the Statue of Liberty stands for a really big idea. Freedom. So where else have you been? Allen: Well, cowpoke, they told me, “Go west, young eagle, go west!” So I soared on over to South Dakota where I visited Mount Rushmore. I’ll tell ya, those guys don’t talk much. Rachel: Allen, you do know that those figures are carved into the mountain, don’t you? Allen: Ah, carved into the side of the mountain? Yeah, I knew that. Rachel: Mount Rushmore honors four great American leaders: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. Allen: Hey, weren’t all those guys president? Rachel: Yes, they were. And they were all very important to the history of our nation. Allen: So, what’s up with this place? Rachel: Well, this is also a national park and it’s very important to the history of our nation. This is the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site. Allen: Oh, I hear a story coming on. Rachel: Yes, you do. Not so very long ago, African American children went to school in this very building. Allen: Right here? In this building? Rachel: Yes, Allen. Right here. But going to school here confused some African American kids. Do you know why? Allen: Yeah, I know why. Vegetables! They were confused because parents and teachers are always trying to make you eat your vegetables. Sometimes I don’t want to eat vegetables. Sometimes I only like pizza, or hamburger… Rachel: Allen, it wasn’t because of vegetables. These kids were confused because there were different schools for kids who were African American, kids who were white, and kids who spoke a different language. Allen: What do you mean? Rachel: Well, kids of different races played together in the neighborhoods but when it was time to go to school, they all went to different schools. African American kids, white kids, and kids whose families spoke different languages could not go to school together. Allen: Why? Rachel: Because of segregation. Allen: What do you mean…segregation? Rachel: It was a terrible thing but for a long time in our country, it was against the law for kids of different races to go to school together. Allen: Wait just a minute. Are you telling me that in the United States of America, some kids couldn’t go to school with their friends because their skin was a different color? Rachel: Yes, that’s what I’m telling you. Allen: Well, that’s just not fair! Rachel: You’re absolutely right. That’s not fair. Allen: Somebody needs to do something! Rachel: You’re right again. And somebody did. The parents of the kids who were being treated unfairly stood up as leaders and asked the Supreme Court of the United States to make things right. Allen: So, what happened? Rachel: In a case called Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court said segregation was wrong. They said all kids should be treated equally and fairly as citizens. Allen: Fair is important. Rachel: Yes, very important. Just think about how you’d feel when you’re not treated fairly. Allen: It makes me an awfully sad eagle but it also makes me mad and maybe a little afraid too. Rachel: We don’t want to make anyone feel sad, mad or afraid. Let’s talk about how you show you care about being fair. Rachel singing: Fair is fair Show you care Invite! Be polite! Can I count on you To do what’s right? Fair is fair! Rachel: Here’s the first thing you can do to show you care about being fair. Invite everyone to join in. Including everyone is a great way to show you care about being fair. It’s especially important to include people who might seem a little different from you. Allen: Sometimes, that feels scary. Rachel: I know it does but sometimes being fair means you have to be brave and be a leader. Here’s the thing, if you don’t include people who are different from you, if you don’t invite them to join in, then you’re saying to them you’re not good enough to play with us. Allen: And then they’ll feel sad, and mad, and afraid. Rachel: That’s right. Allen: I’ll bet that’s how those kids felt when they couldn’t go to school with their friends. Rachel singing: Fair is fair Allen singing: Fair is fair Rachel singing: Show you care Allen singing: About being fair Rachel and Allen singing: Invite! Be polite! Can I count on you to do what’s right? Fair is fair! Rachel: There’s another thing you can do to show you care about being fair and that is: be polite. Allen: You mean like saying please and thank you? Rachel: Saying please and thank you are a great start. Nice words like please and thank you are a way you can show kindness and respect to people. When you use nice words, you show you care about being fair. Allen: But sometimes, people use words that aren’t so nice. In fact, they’re really mean. Rachel: Unfortunately, that’s true. Teasing or calling people names can really hurt people’s feelings. Allen: And that’s not fair. Rachel: It certainly isn’t. Allen: Did people call African American kids mean names? Rachel: Well, it’s really sad but African American kids, and kids of different races, were called some very mean names. Allen: I’ll bet they felt bad. Rachel: I’m sure they did. But here’s something I want you to remember. The Supreme Court and the people of the United States believed everyone should be treated fairly. That’s why we have a national park in the school that some of kids attended. This park helps to show that we care about being fair. So I want you to sing along with me now. Rachel singing: Fair is fair Allen singing: Fair is fair Rachel singing: Show you care Allen singing: About being fair Rachel and Allen singing: Invite! Be polite! Can I count on you to do what’s right? Fair is fair!
Descriptive Transcript
Fair is Fair AD
0:01 The Statue of Liberty sits on its 10 point star pedestal on Liberty Island, a bald eagle stuffed animal flapping its wings as it swoops over the statue.
0:15 The eagle flies over red and tan stratified canyons and swoops down to Mount Rushmore.
0:23 Smooth faces pointed at different angles are carved in a row on a mountain.
0:27 He passes Abraham Lincoln's face.
0:35 The eagle known as Allen, perches on a brick sign for the Brown versus Board of Education National Historic Site.
0:41 Rachel, a park Ranger in uniform walk is toward Allen.
0:45 A multi story brick building is in the background.
0:47 Allen, where have you been?
0:50 Rachel, I've been to some of the most amazing national parks in this country.
0:56 First I visited the Statue of Liberty.
1:00 Now that is 1 very tall lady.
1:03 Fireworks are displayed behind the statue.
1:05 She sure is over 100 feet tall.
1:09 Did you know that the Statue of Liberty was given to America as a gift of friendship from France?
1:14 A gift.
1:16 I bet they needed a really big bow.
1:18 A large red tide ribbon pops up around the statue.
1:22 I don't know about that, but I do know that the Statue of Liberty stands for a really big idea, Freedom.
1:30 Alan swoops down and perches on a stair banister outside a stone building as Rachel walks up.
1:36 So where else have you been?
1:37 Well, cow poke, they told me.
1:40 Go West, young eagle, go West.
1:44 So I soared on over to South Dakota where I visited Mount Rushmore.
1:50 I'll tell you, those guys don't talk much.
1:53 Alan, you do know that those figures are carved into the mountain, don't you?
1:59 Carved into the side of the mountain?
2:01 Yeah.
2:02 I knew that.
2:04 Mount Rushmore honors 4 Great American leaders.
2:07 George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.
2:12 Hey, weren't all those guys president?
2:15 Yes, they were.
2:16 And they were all very important to the history of our nation.
2:21 So what's up with this place?
2:23 Well, this is also a National Park and it's very important to the history of our nation.
2:28 This is the Brown versus Board of Education National Historic site.
2:33 Uh oh, I hear a story coming on.
2:35 Yes, you do.
2:39 Not so very long ago, African American children went to school in this very building.
2:46 Black and white photos of children are displayed in front of a hall with signs labeled white on one side and colored on the other.
2:53 Right here in this building.
2:55 Yes, Alan, right here.
2:58 But going to school here confused some African American kids.
3:01 Do you know why?
3:04 Alan swoops down the hall and perches on the banister on the bottom of a stairwell as Rachel walks up.
3:09 Yeah, I know why.
3:10 Vegetables.
3:11 They were confused because parents and teachers are always trying to make you eat your vegetables.
3:15 Sometimes I don't want to eat vegetables.
3:17 Sometimes I only like pizza or hamburger.
3:19 Sometimes.
3:19 Alan, it wasn't because of vegetables.
3:22 These kids were confused because there were different schools for kids who are African American, kids who are white, and kids who spoke a different language.
3:31 What do you mean?
3:32 Well, kids of different races played together in neighborhoods, but when it was time to go to school, they all went to different schools.
3:41 African American kids, white kids, and kids whose families spoke different languages could not go to school together.
3:49 Why?
3:50 Because of segregation?
3:53 What do you mean segregation?
3:55 It was a terrible thing.
3:56 But for a long time in our country, it was against the law for kids of different races to go to school together.
4:04 Two photos, including one with a white teacher and students and another of an African American teacher and students.
4:10 Allen is perched on a wall chair rail in another room with a fireplace next to Rachel.
4:15 Wait just a minute.
4:16 Are you telling me that in the United States of America, some kids couldn't go to school with their friends because their skin was a different color?
4:27 Yes, that's what I'm telling you.
4:29 Well, that's just not fair.
4:31 You're absolutely right.
4:33 That's not fair.
4:34 Somebody needs to do something.
4:36 You're right again.
4:37 And somebody did.
4:40 Black and white photos of African American men and women standing side by side.
4:44 The parents of the kids who are being treated unfairly stood up as leaders and asked the Supreme Court of the United States to make things right.
4:52 White and African American men stand together in suits standing on a stone step.
4:57 So what happened in a case called Brown versus the Board of Education, the Supreme Court said segregation was wrong.
5:05 The State Journal newspaper is titled school segregation band.
5:09 They said all kids should be treated equally and fairly as citizens.
5:13 A photo of young African American men and women stand side by side in a group.
5:18 Alan and Rachel are at the top of the staircase.
5:21 Yes, very important.
5:22 Just think about how you feel when you're not treated fairly.
5:26 It makes me an awfully sad eagle, but it also makes me mad and maybe a little afraid too.
5:34 We don't want to make anyone feel sad, mad or afraid.
5:38 So let's talk about how you show you care about being fair.
5:44 Rachel is singing as children's artwork is passing behind her.
5:47 Fair is fair.
5:50 Show you care.
5:53 Invite, be polite.
5:56 Can I count on you to do what's right?
5:58 Fair is fair.
6:03 Children are drawing with chalk on the pavement.
6:06 Here's the first thing you can do to show you care about being fair.
6:10 Invite everyone to join in.
6:12 Two children are playing baseball.
6:14 African American and white children sitting on a wheelbarrow.
6:18 Including everyone is a great way to show you care about being fair.
6:24 It's especially important to include people who might seem a little different from you.
6:28 A girl with a cane and a boy with dark skin and natural hair.
6:33 Sometimes that feels scary.
6:36 I know it does.
6:37 But sometimes being fair means you have to be brave and be a leader.
6:42 Here's the thing.
6:43 If you don't include people who are different from you, if you don't invite them to join in, then you're saying to them you're not good enough to play with us.
6:51 And then they'll feel sad and mad and afraid.
6:56 That's right, I'll bet that's how those kids felt when they couldn't go to school with their friends.
7:02 Rachel and Alan are singing in front of more children's artwork of different people together.
7:23 Alan is perched on a water fountain next to Rachel in the hall.
7:27 There's another thing you can do to show you care about being fair, and that is be polite.
7:33 You mean like say please and thank you?
7:37 Please and thank you are a great start.
7:40 Nice words like please and thank you are a way you can show kindness and respect for other people.
7:47 When you use nice words, you show you care about being fair.
7:52 But sometimes people use words that aren't so nice.
7:56 In fact, they're really mean.
7:59 Unfortunately, that's true.
8:01 Teasing or calling people names can really hurt people's feelings.
8:04 And that's not fair.
8:06 It certainly isn't.
8:08 Did people call African American kids mean names?
8:12 Well Alan, it's really sad, but African American kids and kids of different races were called some very mean names.
8:20 Images of different upset, angry, down and straight faced people.
8:24 I'll bet they felt bad.
8:26 I'm sure they did.
8:28 But here's something I want you to remember.
8:30 Rachel and Allen are standing in front of a stone faced building door.
8:34 The Supreme Court and the people of the United States believe everyone should be treated fairly.
8:40 That's why we have a National Park in the school that some of the kids attended.
8:45 This park helps us show that we care about being fair.
8:50 So I want you to sing along with me now.
8:52 There is fair.
8:54 There is fair.
9:00 Invite, be polite.
9:02 You can count on me to do what's right.
9:04 There is fair.
9:14 Thanks for visiting the Brown versus Board of Education historic site. National Park Service logo.
This 10–12-minute educational video is targeted to pre-school and early primary grade children. It is designed to convey, in an age-appropriate manner, the major themes of fairness, respect, courtesy, and getting along with others encompassed in the Brown v. Board of Education decision.
You will need Adobe Flash Player in order to view "The Road to Justice." Click here to download this program.
