EDUCATION
1954
George Hayes, Thurgood
Marshall and James Nabitt
shaking hands after hearing
courts ruling on segregation.
May 17, 1954: Supreme Court rules on the landmark case Brown V. Board
of Education of Topeka, Kansas. –Unanimously agreeing that segregation
in public schools is unconstitutional; therefore, overturning the 1896
Plessy v. Ferguson ruling that sanctioned “separate but equal”
segregation upon racial lines.
1957
September 1957: “Little Rock Nine” In Little
Rock, Arkansas after failed negotiations with
the Governor of Arkansas, President
Eisenhower sends US troops to integrate the
all-white Central High School. 9 students
attended the high school despite angry mobs
positioned outside there school.
Booker T. Washington
(1856-1915) was born into
slavery and rose to become the
most influential spokesman for
African-Americans of his day.
His life work included laying
and building the foundation of
the Tuskegee Institute. He also
wrote Up From Slavery his
autobiography and vision of a
hard working and skilled
African American community
that would incorporate into the
greater American society.
Booker T. Washington was the
first African-American to be
invited as a guest to the White
House by President Teddy
Roosevelt.
W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963) was
the first African-American to
graduate from Harvard. He
started the NAACP and wrote
The Souls of Black Folk which
declared that the problem of
the twentieth century will be
the color-line and race relations
in America. He also wanted to
focus on what he termed the
“Talented Tenth” the best and
brightest of African American
community to accomplish
social change. Du Bois became
disenchanted with America and
became a Citizen of Ghana in
West Africa where he died at
the age of 95.
1963
June 1963: Governor George Wallace
attempted to stop the integration of the
University of Alabama. President
Kennedy sends US Marshals and Deputy
Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach to
enforce court order. Two students Vivian
Malone and James Hood become first
black students to attend and graduate
from the University of Alabama.
Gov. George Wallace stands in the doorway to prevent students to
register for classes at the University of Alabama.
2003
Paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division
escorting the “Little Rock Nine” to school.
June 1974: A few years after the Supreme Court
ruled that busing was legitimate means of
integrating public school, Judge Garrity orders
the desegregation of Boston’s public schools.
Thus began the busing of students from South
Boston to Roxbury and vice versa. This resulted in
riots and other forms of civil disobedience in
Boston, Massachusetts.
1974
June 2003: Supreme Court (5-4) decision
upholds the University of Michigan Law
School’s policy, ruling that race can be one of
many factors considered by colleges when
selecting students because it is a benefit to
have a diverse student body.
2006
As recently as last the highest court has
heard arguments on the issue of school
busing in Washington State and in Kentucky.