White schools were often clean places with functioning bathrooms and water fountains. Black schools were the opposite. Children had to walk blocks and sometimes miles to their school; there were no buses, for blacks. African-American schools were overcrowded and understaffed. The classes took place in poorly constructed buildings; there was a very low funding for black education.
THE BROWNS.
A young girl by the name of Linda Brown who lived in Topeka, Kansas had to walk one mile to her school because of these Jim Crow laws. During her walk she had to traverse through a dangerous railroad switchyard. Linda had to endure all of this, even though a white elementary school was only seven blocks away. Her father, Oliver Brown, tried to enroll her into the white school but the principal refused. After being denied admission, Brown went to the head of Topeka's branch of the NAACP and asked for help. The NAACP was eager to assist the Browns and appointed Thurgood Marshall, a man who had experience fighting against segregation, to take up the case.
THURGOOD MARSHALL .
Born in Baltimore, Maryland on July 2, 1908, Thurgood Marshall was the grandson of a slave. From youth, his father instilled in him an appreciation for the United States Constitution and the rule of law. In 1930, he applied to the University of Maryland Law School, but was denied admission because of the color of his skin. However, he was accepted into Howard University that same year. Marshall's first major court case was in 1933 when he successfully sued the University of Maryland to admit a young African American graduate. Later, he became the Chief Counsel for the NAACP. After amassing an impressive record of Supreme Court challenges, President John F. Kennedy appointed Marshall to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Thurgood Marshall died on January 24, 1993. .
THE CASE.
Brown's case was heard by the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas from June 25-26, 1951.
