Brown v. Board: Five
Communities That Changed America

(From top to bottom: Sumner
School, Monroe School, John Philip Sousa Junior High School, Robert
R. Moton High School, Summerton High School, and Howard High School.
National Historic Landmark and National Register photos.)

"Probably no case ever to come before the
nation’s highest tribunal affected more directly the minds, hearts, and
daily lives of so many Americans…. The decision marked the turning point
in the nation’s willingness to face the consequences of centuries of
racial discrimination.”¹

On May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court proclaimed that “in the field
of public education ‘separate but equal’ has no place.” This historic
ruling in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka overturned the
Court’s 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision that had sanctioned
racial segregation. The landmark case marked the culmination of a
decades-long legal battle waged by the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and residents of several
communities.

Although people often associate the case with Linda Brown, a young girl
whose parents sued so that she could attend an all-white school, Brown
v. Board actually consisted of five separate cases.² Originating in
four states and the District of Columbia, all began as grassroots efforts
to either enroll black students in all-white schools or obtain improved
facilities for black students. By the fall of 1952, the Supreme Court had
accepted the cases independently on appeal and decided to hear arguments
collectively. None of these cases would have been possible without
individuals who were courageous enough to take a stand against the
inequalities of segregation. Today, several of the schools represented in
Brown v. Board of Education stand as poignant reminders of the
struggle to abolish segregation in public education.

¹ Richard Kluger, Simple Justice (New York:
Vintage Books, 1977), x.
² Brown v. Board consolidated
separate cases from four states. A fifth public school segregation case
from Washington, DC was considered in the context of Brown, but
resulted in a separate opinion. References to Brown in this
lesson plan collectively refer to all five cases.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
About
This Lesson

Getting
Started: Inquiry Question

Setting
the Stage: Historical Context

Locating the Site: Maps
1.
Segregation in the U.S.

Determining the Facts: Readings
1.
School Desegregation and the NAACP's Role
2.
Challenging School Segregation
3.
The Supreme Court's Opinion in Brown v. Board of Education

Visual Evidence:
Images
1.
Robert Russa Moton High School, Farmville, Virginia
2.
Classroom in temporary building, Robert Russa Moton High School
3.
Auditorium at Farmville High School, Farmville, Virginia
4.
Auditorium at Robert Russa Moton High School, Farmville, Virginia
5.
Protesting school segregation, St. Louis, Missouri

6. Mrs. Nettie Hunt and daughter on the steps of the Supreme Court, Washington, D.C., November, 1954.

Putting
It All Together: Activities
1. Massive Resistance
2. The NAACP
3. The United States Supreme
Court
4. School Segregation in the Local
Community

Supplementary
Resources

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Brown v. Board of
Education National Historic Site

The lesson is based on Robert Russa Moton High School, Sumner and
Monroe Elementary Schools, Howard High School, John Philip Sousa Middle
School, and Summerton High School several of the thousands of properties
listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Robert Russa Moton
High School, Sumner and Monroe Elementary Schools, Howard High School, and
John Philip Sousa Middle School have been designated National Historic
Landmarks.

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