Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park |
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 Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park
Location in Kansas
Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park
Location in the United States
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| Location | Topeka, Kansas, and Summerton, South Carolina, United States |
| Nearest city | Topeka, Kansas |
| Area | 1.85 acres (0.75 ha) |
| Established | October 26, 1992 |
| Visitors | 16,886 (in 2011) |
| Governing body | National Park Service |
| Website | Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site |
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Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site
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| Location | 1515 SE Monroe St, Topeka, Kansas |
| NRHP reference No. | 01000156 |
| Added to NRHP | October 26, 1992 |
The Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park is a special place in Topeka, Kansas. It was created on October 26, 1992, by the United States Congress. This park remembers a very important decision made by the U.S. Supreme Court. This decision, called Brown v. Board of Education, aimed to end racial segregation in public schools.
On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court decided that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." This meant that having separate schools for different races was not fair. It went against the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. This amendment promises "equal protection of the laws" for all citizens.
The main part of the National Historical Park is Monroe Elementary School. This school was one of four separate elementary schools for African American children in Topeka. It was first known as Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site. On May 13, 2022, it became a National Historical Park and was expanded. The park will also include Summerton High School and Scott’s Branch High School in Summerton, South Carolina, once they are bought.
Five other schools are connected to the National Park Service. These are the Robert Russa Moton School in Farmville, Virginia, Howard High School in Wilmington, Delaware, Claymont High School in Claymont, Delaware, Hockessin Colored School #107 in Hockessin, Delaware, and John Philip Sousa Junior High School in Washington, D.C.. The National Park Service does not own these schools. Instead, it helps them financially and technically to share their history.
The Brown v. Board of Education case was combined with four other similar cases. These cases were about school segregation in different states. They included Briggs v. Elliott from South Carolina, Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County from Virginia, Gebhart v. Belton from Delaware, and Bolling v. Sharpe from Washington, D.C.. By including these schools, the park tells a bigger story. It shows the history of unfair education based on race and the legal fight to stop it.
Contents
History of the Topeka Site
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The story of Monroe Elementary School started many years before the Brown decision. In 1855, John Ritchie, who was against slavery, bought land in Topeka, Kansas. After the Civil War, many newly freed African Americans moved to Topeka. They built homes on this land. Because many African Americans lived there, the school board decided to build a school for Black children. This area became the site of Monroe School.
After Ritchie passed away in 1887, the Topeka Board of Education bought the land. They wanted to build a school for African American children. The building you see today is actually the third Monroe school on that corner. The first school was in a small rented building from 1868. A permanent building was put up in 1874. The current building was built in 1926, right next to the old one.
A famous Topeka architect, Thomas W. Williamson, designed this building. His company designed many modern schools in Topeka between 1920 and 1935. Monroe Elementary School is a two-story building made of brick and limestone. It was built in the Italian Renaissance Revival style. The school used some of the best materials and newest technology of its time.
In 2004, a teacher from Monroe, Barbara Ross, shared her memories. She said:
I feel they were good schools. They had qualified black teachers ... very qualified. Many people ... well, I'll say some people ... felt that the supplies and things that were furnished in the buildings were not comparable with those in the white schools only because they were probably older buildings. They had the same books and we've heard a lot of things about that. But they had the same books that the others had because so many of the black teachers were on the committees to select the books -- the textbooks. So we know we had the same books that they did. It's true -- everything wasn't just right because the things in the community weren't just right. We couldn't go eat any place. We couldn't go to the theater and sit any place. We couldn't live in an apartment or go to a motel; we had to stay with a black family when we came here to teach.
Monroe was the newest of the four segregated schools for African American children in Topeka. The other schools were Buchanan, McKinley, and Washington. Washington School is no longer standing. The Topeka Board of Education no longer owns the other schools.
In the Brown case, the court did not say that Black schools in Kansas were worse in terms of buildings or books. Instead, the court said that separating children by race was harmful to their education. The big idea was that "separate" itself was unfair. This made Brown a very important case in ending school segregation. The court's decision said:
Does segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race, even though the physical facilities and other "tangible" factors may be equal, deprive the children of the minority group of equal educational opportunities? We believe that it does.
Changing Ownership of Monroe School
Monroe School closed in 1975 because fewer students were attending. The school district used the building as a storage place. They also used the grounds for parking and fixing buses. Later, the school and its land were sold to private owners. Monroe Elementary stayed privately owned for over fifteen years.
Richard Appelhans and Richard L. Plush, Jr. bought the school. They planned to turn it into offices or a private school. But they sold it in 1982. The next owner was the Church of the Nazarene. They used the property as a community center. The next owner, Mark A. Steuve, bought the school in 1988 for storage. In 1990, Steuve announced he would sell the building at an auction.
The Brown Foundation started a campaign to save Monroe Elementary School. They wrote many letters and met with local leaders. They also worked with the Trust for Public Land. The school was finally saved. The Trust for Public Land bought the property in 1991. It was then added to the list of National Historic Landmarks. On October 26, 1992, President George H. W. Bush signed a law. This law created the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site. The ownership was given to the National Park Service in December 1993.
South Carolina Sites
Summerton High School was a school only for white students. It did not allow Black students. Black students had to go to Scott’s Branch High School. This school was built in 1951. It was supposed to offer a similar education for African American students. However, the unfairness between these schools was challenged in the Briggs v. Elliott case. This case was later combined with the Brown v. Board case.
Affiliated Areas
- Robert Russa Moton School in Farmville, Virginia
- Howard High School in Wilmington, Delaware
- Claymont High School in Claymont, Delaware
- Hockessin Colored School #107 in Hockessin, Delaware
- John Philip Sousa Junior High School in Washington, D.C.
