In the fall of 1953, the Supreme Court of the United States received the case of "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka" (347 U.S. 483, 1954) that raised essential questions, including whether separate but "equal" facilities in education can be provided for black students in the United States or whether the consideration of such societal construct violates, among other things, the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Five cases became the class action suit of "Brown v. Board of Education, Topeka" ("supra"). These five were "Briggs v. Elliott" (347 U.S. 497, 1954) of South Carolina, "Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County" (347 U.S. 483, 1954) of Virginia, "Belton v. Gebhart" (347 U.S. 483, 1954) of Delaware, "Brown v. Board of Education Topeka" (347 U.S. 483, 1954) of Kansas, and the companion case from the District of Columbia, "Bolling v. Sharpe" (347 U.S. 497, 1954); all five cases challenged the doctrine of "separate but equal" established by "Plessy v. Ferguson" (163 U.S. 537, 1896); all five cases overlapped in the court system(s) from 1949 to 1951. Many historians believe it was the plaintiffs' collective pursuit of school equalization that brought "Brown" before the Supreme Court; "others" believe that it was their different interpretations of "separate but equal" that gave them strength. The two cases of "Belton" and "Davis" challenged the "Plessy" doctrine on its original merit; they wanted equalization of their school facilities, transportation, curricula, and teacher qualifications. "Brown" challenged "Plessy" on another level; the plaintiffs argued that "separate" was inherently unequal, creating a sense of inferiority for the colored students in the system. "Bolling" challenged the constitutionality of desegregation in the District of Columbia (the court all but ignored the argument and directed its opinion toward the argument of equalization). "Briggs" initially based their case on equalization; during trial their legal argument changed to directly challenging South Carolina's authority to segregate public education; they wanted the system desegregated. It was this legal "flip" in "Briggs" that many believe to have been the "push" that was needed to propel "Brown" to the Supreme Court. Although the opposing communities would have to wait for what they believed would be a jolt in the American dynamic; the plaintiffs in "Brown" did not feel immediate relief by way of the Court's decision. "Brown" had not overturned "Plessy," as many had hoped for, it merely rejected "separate but equal" in the field of public education. The decision did not bring immediate integration for the colored students into the better schools, nor did it provide equal educational opportunities to a community that had waited for over 75 years. The question on proponents' and opponents' minds on May 18, 1954, and for many years to follow, was "What had "Brown" really accomplished?"