Topics in Kansas History:
Brown v. Board of Education

On May 17, 1954, by an unanimous vote, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that "separate but equal" education facilities are "inherently unequal," and that segregation in the schools is, a violation of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution and, therefore, unconstitutional. The landmark case, known as Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, involved a Kansas statute permitting racial segregation in some of the state's elementary schools. more

Find resources related to this U.S. Supreme Court case.

Note: Some of the resources listed below are not available online and can be accessed only by visiting the Kansas Historical Society.

• Kansas Bar Association video and curriculum materials, "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka: The Case of the Century"
• Brown v. Topeka Board of Education Oral History Collection
  

• Brown v. Board of Education
• Davis, Christy, "Brown v. Board Dedication Marks Culmination of Preservation Effort," Kansas Preservation, July/August 2004
• Leiker, James, "Race Relations in the Sunflower State, A Review Essay," Kansas History, Autumn 2002

Letters, documents, objects, photographs, and sites

Photographs

• Blue Mound School near Valley Falls, Kansas, date unknown
• Grant School students, Topeka, Kansas, date unknown
• Mamie Williams, Topeka schoolteacher, date unknown
• Mamie Williams' students, Topeka, Kansas, date unknown
• Monroe School, Topeka, Kansas, ca. 1920s
• School lunch program, location unknown, Federal Works Project, 1939
• State Street School, First Grade, Topeka, Kansas, 1955
• Elisha Scott, Topeka attorney, date unknown
• Circuit Court Judge Walter A. Huxman, date unknown
• Harold R. Fatzer, Kansas State Attorney General, 1950-1956
• Kansas Avenue, Topeka, Kansas, 1948
• Kansas Avenue, Topeka, Kansas, 1954
• Kansas Avenue looking north from 7th, Topeka, Kansas, 1954

Newspapers

• Topeka State Journal, May 17, 1954
• Topeka Daily Capital, May 18, 1954
• Topeka Daily Capital, detail, May 18, 1954
• Oliver Brown's obituary, Topeka State Journal, June 21, 1961

• Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education

Related bibliographies

• Abolition, Segregation and Civil Rights
• African-Americans in Kansas and the West

Finding aids and guides to the collections

Books and Magazines at KSHS

• Topeka City Directories

Personal Papers at KSHS

• Paul E. Wilson Papers, 1951-1975, Coll. No. 120
• Misc. Collection: Wendell Godwin
  Call number: 64-13-04-03
• Brown v. Topeka Board of Education Oral History Collection
  Call number: Manuscript Collection 251, Audio/Visual Collection 13
  Download complete finding aid in PDF (650KB)

Government Records at KSHS

• Special Legislation for Kansas City, Kansas, 1905
  • Governor’s Office, Edward Arn Administration (1952-1954)
    Subject Files – Segregation
    Call number: 27-15-04-02, folder 16
• Attorney General’s Office, Major Case Files
  Brown v. Bd., 1951-1963
  Call number: 28-11-04-02 to 28-11-04-03
• U.S. District Court of Kansas, Civil Case Number T-316
  Oliver Brown et. al., v. Board of Education, Topeka, KS.
  Microfilm reel no.: AR 1939
  Link to text on Brown Foundation site
• Other court opinions from the Brown Foundation site
• Link to Civil Rights Microfilm during Eisenhower Administration
• Link to Civil Rights Microfilm during Kennedy Administration

State Segregation Cases Before Brown
Links to cases on the Brown Foundation site:

• Elijah Tinnon v. the Board of Education of Ottawa, 1881, KS Appellate Court Case No. "unnumbered"; Franklin County District Court Case No. 2699 text of case
• Knox v. the Board of Education of Independence, 1891, KS Appellate Court Case No. "unnumbered" text of case
• Reynolds v. the Board of Education of Topeka, 1903, KS Appellate Court Case No. 13,140 text of case
• Cartwright v. the Board of Education of Coffeyville, 1906, KS Appellate Court Case No. 14,249 text of case
• Rowles v. the Board of Education of Wichita, 1907, KS Appellate Court Case No. 15,281 text of case
• Williams v. the Board of Education of Parsons, 1908, KS Appellate Court Case No. 16,181 text of case
• Thurman-Watts v. the Board of Education of Coffeyville, 1924, KS Appellate Court Case No. 25,305 text of case
• Wright v. the Board of Education of Topeka, 1929, KS Appellate Court Case No. 29,324 text of case
• Graham v. the Board of Education of Topeka, 1941, KS Appellate Court Case No. 34,791 text of case
• Webb v School District No. 90, South Park, Johnson County, 1949, KS Appellate Court Case No. 37,427 (MF 5005) text of case

Other Kansas cases in the State Archives at KSHS:

• Buford Crawford v. the Board of Education of Fort Scott, 1887, KS Appellate Court Case No.4,844
• Woolridge v. the Board of Education of Galena, 1916, KS Appellate Court Case No. 20,378

Business and Organizational Records

• National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Kansas Branch Office Files, 1913-1965.
  Microfilm reel nos.: MS 1386-1396.
• National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Papers of the NAACP: Part 3. The Campaign of Educational Equality: Legal Department and Central Office Records, 1913-1950.
• Series A: Legal Department and Central Office Records, 1913-1940. Reel nos.: MS 4649-4672.
• Series B: Legal Department and Central Office Records, 1940-1950. Reel nos.: MS 4678-4696.
• Series C: Legal Department and Central Office Records, 1951-1955. Reel nos.: MS 4697-4719.
• Series D: Central Office Records, 1956-1965. Reel nos.: MS 4720-4732.

Audio-Visual Materials
Audio Collections:

• Brown v. Topeka Board of Education Oral History Collection.
  Call number: Collection 13

• Kansas Bar Association, "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka: The Case of the Century"
• Spirit of Washington School, c. 1940 (Black school in Topeka)
  Call number: VT026
• George Washington Carver YMCA/USO, 1945 (Black YMCA in Topeka)
  Call number: VT001
• Conformity and the Crutch Jim Crow Series (16mm).
  Call number: 122-01-07-02

Exhibits

• Brown vs. Board of Education: In Pursuit of Freedom and Equality

Museum Store

• Brown v. Board of Education books and gifts

Kansas Kaleidoscope, our children's magazine

• "Brown v. Board of Education" December 2003/January 2004
• "Equal Education: The Fight, The Right," December 2003/January 2004

This web page was completed with the assistance of volunteers Judy Burbach, Irene Stille and Annie Knecht.