Topics in Kansas History:
Brown v. Board of Education

Find resources related to the landmark 1954 Brown v. Topeka Board of Education U.S. Supreme Court case. The court's decision declared separate schools for African-Americans to be inherently unequal and, therefore, a violation of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which guarantees all citizens "equal protection of the laws." Note: Some of the resources listed below are not available online and can be accessed only by visiting the Kansas State 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
  

• 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.