Brown v Board of Education
Who was involved? Think about the people or groups who were involved and affected by this event.
What happened? Summarize the event!
Where did the event take place?
When did the event take place?
Who was involved: The Supreme Court of the United States, Oliver Brown (African American father who sued the Topeka, Kansas Board of Education on behalf of his daughter Linda Brown), Thurgood Marshall (NAACP lawyer who argued the case), African American students and their families affected by school segregation.
What happened: The Brown v Board of Education was a landmark Supreme Court case in 1954 that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students were unconstitutional and violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The ruling overturned the "separate but equal" doctrine established in Plessy v Ferguson in 1896, which allowed racial segregation in public facilities as long as they were equal. This ruling marked a major victory for the Civil Rights Movement and paved the way for the desegregation of schools and other public facilities in the United States.
Where: The case originated in Topeka, Kansas, but its impact was nationwide as it addressed racial segregation in public schools across the country.
When: The case was argued before the Supreme Court on December 9, 1952, and a unanimous decision was reached on May 17, 1954.