The Centennial article by Ruben Donato and Jarrod Hanson demonstrates the critical importance of writing the history of America's variegated ethnicity not only for a comprehensive understanding of the past but also to inform future struggles to overturn segregation and inequality in America's schools (see e.g., Ball, 2006). Donato and Hanson…

Effective history teaching includes ample opportunities for students to develop historical thinking skills and habits of mind which encourage them to learn content beyond simple acquisition of facts. Covering the profound topic of segregation by employing multiple perspectives and encouraging investigation beyond the traditional narrative provides…

This article provides a brief overview of segregated education in Kansas and then explores 3 legal cases: (a) Reynolds v. The Board of Education of the City of Topeka (1903), (b) Wright v. Board of Education of Topeka (1930), and (c) Graham v. Board of Education of Topeka (1941), the precursors to Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas…

More than thirty cases involving desegregation of public school systems handed down in the first 25 years after Brown v. Board of Education, Topeka, Kansas, by the U.S. Supreme Court are discussed. However, the last 25 years have resulted in a situation of having the nation taking one step forward and half a step backwards, due to the conditions…

This article describes three women who hold prominent places in the history of the United States. They are: (1) Linda Brown, the symbol of "bringing down segregation" in U.S. schools; (2) Rosa Parks, the mother of the Civil Rights Movement; and (3) Coretta Scott King, an accomplished musician and singer. These women hold their places in…

The Supreme Court's opinion in the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education case legally ended decades of racial segregation in America's public schools. Originally named after Oliver Brown, the first of many plaintiffs listed in the lower court case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, KS, the landmark decision actually resolved five separate…

It's a little-known fact, but, 50 years ago, the junior high and high schools of Topeka, Kan., were integrated--though in name only. Fear was the order of the day at the high school, where an African American assistant superintendent by the name of Harrison Caldwell roamed the halls as the "White folks' enforcer," ensuring that African…

On May 17, 2004, the United States will observe the fiftieth anniversary of the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. By invalidating the doctrine of "separate but equal" in the field of public education, a doctrine that had been approved by the same court nearly sixty years earlier in Plessy…

The impact of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas 1954 decision on the desegregation of public schools in the United States of America and the provisions of better learning opportunities for African American students are described. The study showed that the issues around African American teachers, post-desegregation, have to be studied…

Initially, Kansas prohibited school segregation except for elementary schools in cities over 15,000 people. As Topeka annexed areas in the early 20th century, African Americans accustomed to integration filed court challenges, which failed. Subsequent efforts to desegregate Topeka are traced, through the landmark 1954 case. Black teachers in…