This unit focuses on the school integration case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (Kansas), and its immediate aftermath. The Supreme Court's 1954 decision was a catalyst for civil rights activism along a broad front over the ensuing decades. The decision and its implementation have stood as a model for similar social and political action among white middle class women, Latinos, and Native Americans. The unit presents the desegregation case as a dramatic moment in history from which to explore the deeper meanings of a selected landmark event and its wider context in the historical narrative. By studying a crucial turning point in history, the student becomes aware that choices had to be made by real human beings, that those decisions were the result of specific factors, and that they set in motion a series of historical consequences. The unit contains teacher background materials and lesson plans with student resources. The teacher background section provides an overview of the entire unit and historical information and context necessary to link the Brown case to the larger historical narrative of school desegregation, racial relationships, and civil rights. The unit consists of two lessons: (1) the case of Linda Brown; and (2) the Brown case and its impact on the civil rights movement. Primary and secondary documents for lesson 1 include the case facts for Brown v. Board, Chief Justice Earl Warren's delivery of the opinion of the Court, the reaction of the North Carolina legislature to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling, and 2 private letters. The second lesson discusses the Brown case as a challenge to federalism. (DK)