who was the attorney board v brown

by Lelah Swift PhD 8 min read

Thurgood Marshall

Who was the attorney who argued for Brown in Brown vs Board of Education Topeka?

John Scott was a Topeka, KS, based lawyer who initially began the Brown case on behalf of Oliver Brown and the other litigants. Chief Justice Earl Warren, who was born in 1891, secured a unanimous decision in Brown v.8 Jun 2021

Who was the lead lawyer in the Brown versus Board case against the Board of Education Kansas?

Thurgood MarshallThurgood Marshall, the head of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, served as chief attorney for the plaintiffs. (Thirteen years later, President Lyndon B. Johnson would appoint Marshall as the first Black Supreme Court justice.)11 Jan 2022

Who ruled Brown vs Board?

On May 17, 1954, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren delivered the unanimous ruling in the landmark civil rights case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. State-sanctioned segregation of public schools was a violation of the 14th amendment and was therefore unconstitutional.22 Nov 2021

Who was the attorney that led the team in victory in the Brown v Board of Education of Topeka case?

Thurgood MarshallAfrican American lawyer (and future Supreme Court justice) Thurgood Marshall led Brown's legal team, and on May 17, 1954, the high court handed down its decision.

Who was the plaintiff in Brown vs Board of Education?

The 13 plaintiffs were: Oliver Brown, Darlene Brown, Lena Carper, Sadie Emmanuel, Marguerite Emerson, Shirley Fleming, Zelma Henderson, Shirley Hodison, Maude Lawton, Alma Lewis, Iona Richardson, Vivian Scales, and Lucinda Todd. The last surviving plaintiff, Zelma Henderson, died in Topeka, on May 20, 2008, at age 88.

Who opposed Brown vs Board of Education?

By 1956, Senator Byrd had created a coalition of nearly 100 Southern politicians to sign on to his “Southern Manifesto” an agreement to resist the implementation of Brown.

Why is Brown v Board important?

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education marked a turning point in the history of race relations in the United States. On May 17, 1954, the Court stripped away constitutional sanctions for segregation by race, and made equal opportunity in education the law of the land.

Which sentences describe the Brown v Board of Education decision?

Board case, the Supreme Court justices voted 9-0 in favor of Brown. " Th court ruled that segregated schools deprived people of equal protection of the laws"- The Supreme Court justices argued that the concept of "separate but equal" violated the Equal Protection clause of the 14th amendment.

What was the verdict in Brown vs Board of Education relate to the verdict?

State-sanctioned segregation of public schools was a violation of the 14th Amendment and was therefore unconstitutional. This historic decision marked the end of the "separate but equal" precedent set by the Supreme Court nearly 60 years earlier and served as a catalyst for the expanding civil rights movement.3 Jun 2021

In what year did the famous Brown v the Board of Education lawsuit begin?

1954Board of Education (1954, 1955) The case that came to be known as Brown v.

Did Linda Brown go to a white school?

In 1951, when Linda was nine years old, Oliver Brown attempted to enroll her at Sumner Elementary School in Topeka but was unable to because it was an all-white school.24 Nov 2018

Description

The U.S. Supreme Court case, Brown v. Board of Education, was bundled with four related cases and a decision was rendered on May 17, 1954. Three lawyers, Thurgood Marshall (center), chief counsel for the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund and lead attorney on the Briggs case, with George E. C. Hayes (left) and James M.

Source-Dependent Questions

The phrase "equal justice under law" is featured in this photograph. It was proposed by the architects planning the U.S. Supreme Court building and then approved by the justices in 1932. What does “equal justice under law” mean?

Citation Information

"George E. C. Hayes, Thurgood Marshall, and James M. Nabrit congratulating each other on the Brown decision," Associated Press, 17 May 1954. Courtesy of Library of Congress

What was the Bolling case?

Although Bolling is historically considered one of the Brown v. Board of Education bundle cases, it was a different case due to the legal arguments.

What was the precedent in Ferguson v. Brown?

Ferguson ruling of the United States Supreme Court as precedent. The plaintiffs claimed that the "separate but equal" ruling violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. In 1954, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Brown v.

Who was the plaintiff in the Belton v. Gebhart case?

Ethel Louise Belton#N#Ethel Belton and six other adults filed suit on behalf of eight Black children against Francis B. Gebhart and 12 others (both individuals and state education agencies) in the case Belton v. Gebhart. The plaintiffs sued the state for denying to the children admission to certain public schools because of color or ancestry. The Belton case was joined with another very similar Delaware case, Bulah v. Gebhart, and both would ultimately join four other NAACP cases in the Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education. Belton was born in 1937 and died in 1981.

Who was Thurgood Marshall?

Born in 1908, Thurgood Marshall served as lead attorney for the plaintiffs in Briggs v. Elliott. From 1930 to 1933, Marshall attended Howard University Law School and came under the immediate influence of the school’s new dean, Charles Hamilton Houston. Marshall, who also served as lead counsel in the Brown v.

Why was Brown v. Board of Education important?

This grouping of cases from Kansas, South Carolina, Virginia, the District of Columbia, and Delaware was significant because it represented school segregation as a national issue, not just a southern one. Each case was brought on the behalf of elementary school children, involving all-Black schools that were inferior to white schools.

Who was the Supreme Court Justice in Kansas?

Fatzer served as Kansas Supreme Court Justice from February 1949 to March 1956. Jack Greenberg. Jack Greenberg, who was born in 1924, argued on behalf of the plaintiffs in the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka case, and worked on the briefs in Belton v. Gebhart.

Who was the lead defendant in Bolling v. Sharpe?

C. Melvin Sharpe , acting as President of the Board of Education of the District of Columbia from 1948 to 1957, was named as the lead defendant in the case Bolling v. Sharpe. Earl Warren. Chief Justice Earl Warren, who was born in 1891, secured a unanimous decision in Brown v.

What was the last case in the Belton vs. Gebhart case?

The last case listed in the order of arguments, Belton v. Gebhart , was actually two nearly identical cases (the other being Bulah v . Gebhart ), both originating in the state of Delaware in 1952. Ethel Belton was one of the parents listed as plaintiffs in the case brought in Claymont, while Sarah Bulah brought suit in the town of Hockessin, Delaware. While both of these plaintiffs brought suit because their African-American children had to attend inferior schools, Sarah Bulah's situation was unique in that she was a white woman with an adopted Black child, who was still subject to the segregation laws of the state. Local attorney Louis Redding, Delaware's only African-American attorney at the time, originally argued both cases in Delaware's Court of Chancery. NAACP attorney Jack Greenberg assisted Redding. Belton/Bulah v. Gebhart was argued at the Federal level by Delaware's attorney general, H. Albert Young.

What was the Davis v. County School Board case?

Marshall also argued the Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County, Virginia, case at the Federal level. Originally filed in May of 1951 by plaintiff's attorneys Spottswood Robinson and Oliver Hill, the Davis case, like the others, argued that Virginia's segregated schools were unconstitutional because they violated the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment. And like the Briggs case, Virginia's three-judge panel ruled against the 117 students who were identified as plaintiffs in the case. (For more on this case, see Photographs from the Dorothy Davis Case .)

What was the Supreme Court's decision in Plessy v. Ferguson?

Ferguson. In 1896, the Supreme Court upheld the lower courts' decision in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson. Homer Plessy, a Black man from Louisiana, challenged the constitutionality of segregated railroad coaches, first in the state courts and then in the U. S. Supreme Court.

What states were involved in the segregation of elementary schools?

Five separate cases were filed in Kansas, South Carolina, Virginia, the District of Columbia, and Delaware: Oliver Brown et al. v. Board of Education of Topeka, Shawnee County, Kansas, et al.

What did the Federal District Court say about the Brown v. Board of Education case?

Board of Education, the Federal district court even cited the injurious effects of segregation on Black children, but held that "separate but equal" was still not a violation of the Constitution.

What was the Board of Education case?

Board of Education case of 1954 legally ended decades of racial segregation in America's public schools. Chief Justice Earl Warren delivered the unanimous ruling in the landmark civil rights case. State-sanctioned segregation of public schools was a violation of the 14th Amendment and was therefore unconstitutional.

What was the goal of the NAACP defense team in 1950?

Painter in 1950. In each of these cases, the goal of the NAACP defense team was to attack the "equal" standard so that the "separate" standard would in turn become susceptible. Five Cases Consolidated under Brown v. Board of Education.

What was the NAACP working for in the 1950s?

But by the early 1950s, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ( NAACP) was working hard to challenge segregation laws in public schools, and had filed lawsuits on behalf of plaintiffs in states such as South Carolina, Virginia and Delaware .

What states acted in accordance with the verdict?

While Kansas and some other states acted in accordance with the verdict, many school and local officials in the South defied it. In one major example, Governor Orval Faubus of Arkansas called out the state National Guard to prevent Black students from attending high school in Little Rock in 1957.

When did Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka come to the Supreme Court?

When Brown’s case and four other cases related to school segregation first came before the Supreme Court in 1952, the Court combined them into a single case under the name Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka .

When was the Separate But Equal doctrine first ruled?

Separate But Equal Doctrine. In 1896, the Supreme Court ruled in Plessy v. Ferguson that racially segregated public facilities were legal, so long as the facilities for Black people and whites were equal.

When did Rosa Parks refuse to give up her seat on the bus?

In 1955, a year after the Brown v. Board of Education decision, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus.

Who replaced Vinson in Brown v. Board of Education?

But in September 1953, before Brown v. Board of Education was to be heard, Vinson died, and President Dwight D. Eisenhower replaced him with Earl Warren, then governor of California.

Who was the chief attorney for Brown v. Board of Education?

Board of Education of Topeka . Thurgood Marshall, the head of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, served as chief attorney for the plaintiffs.

Why did Marshall argue for segregation?

When the case went to the Supreme Court, Marshall argued that school segregation was a violation of individual rights under the 14th Amendment. He also asserted that the only justification for continuing to have separate schools was to keep people who were slaves "as near that stage as possible.".

Who won the Brown case?

From left, attorneys George E.C. Hayes, Thurgood Marshall , and James Nabrit Jr. celebrate their victory in the Brown case on May 17, 1954. John Davis, left, and Thurgood Marshall opposed each other before the Supreme Court in the Brown case. They are seen in a December 1952 photo.

Who was the first African American to be on the Supreme Court?

On Morning Edition, NPR's Juan Williams traces the story of Thurgood Marshall, who led the fight to dismantle the "separate but equal" doctrine in public education and later went on to become the first African American on the Supreme Court.

Who was the law school dean of Howard University?

Two years after graduating from the law school at historically black Howard University, Marshall, with help from Howard Law School dean and mentor Charles Hamilton Houston, won a lawsuit forcing the University of Maryland to integrate its law school.

What was the significance of Brown vs Board of Education?

On May 17, 2019, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education turns 65. On this date in 1954, the Court declared the doctrine of “separate but equal” unconstitutional and handed the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. ( LDF) the most celebrated victory in its storied history. Brown v. Board of Education invalidated racial segregation in public schools throughout the United States and paved the way for integration in nearly every aspect of American life. The case was litigated by some of the nation’s best attorneys, including Thurgood Marshall, Robert Carter, Jack Greenberg, Constance Baker Motley, Spottswood Robinson, Oliver Hill, Louis Redding, and James Nabrit, among others.

When is Brown v Board of Education luncheon?

Friday, May 17, 2019. To commemorate the 65th Anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's momentous decision in Brown v. Board of Education, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) will be hosting a luncheon to celebrate the historic victory as well as some of the incredible women who made it possible.

What was Katherine Carper's role in the Civil Rights Movement?

At the tender age of 10, Katherine Louise Carper solidified her place as one of the youngest heroes of the Civil Rights Movement. Along with her mother, she was the first to sign onto the lawsuit that would eventually become Brown v. Board. The segregated school system in which Katherine was enrolled required her to travel over 8 hours to and from school each day. The harrowing trek required Katherine to brave the elements, walking through fields and down unpaved roads to catch the bus to school.

What happened to Doris Faye and her twin sister?

At the ages of 13, Doris Faye and her twin sister, Doris Raye, were plaintiffs in a lawsuit to desegregate schools in Hearne, a small town sandwiched between Houston and Dallas, Texas. In September 1947, Doris Faye and Doris Raye, accompanied by their parents, attempted to enroll at a white junior high school in Hearne. In their elementary years, the girls had attended local public schools, but after graduating, their parents found that the building that housed their junior high and high school – Blackshear – was uninhabitable.

Who represented Reverend Brown in the lawsuit?

In 1951, LDF represented Reverend Oliver L. Brown, on behalf of his third-grade daughter Linda, in a lawsuit against the Topeka Board of Education. Reverend Brown had attempted to enroll his young daughter in the all-white Sumner Elementary School. When the school refused to enroll Linda, she was instructed to attend the under-resourced all-Black Monroe School, two miles away from her home. Reverend Brown promised Linda that he would challenge the school’s decision.

Who was the first female attorney for the LDF?

After working with LDF founder Thurgood Marshall, Motley became LDF’s first female attorney and wrote the original complaint in Brown v.Board . In addition, Motley played an important role in representing Black students seeking admission to the Universities of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi as well as Clemson College in South Carolina. She claimed her greatest professional achievement was the reinstatement of 1,100 Black children in Birmingham who had been expelled for taking part in street demonstrations in the spring of 1963. Motley also directed the legal campaign that resulted in the admission of James H. Meredith to the University of Mississippi in 1962.

image

Plessy v. Ferguson

The NAACP

  • In 1909 the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was officially formed to champion the modern Civil Rights Movement. In its early years its primary goals were to eliminate lynching and to obtain fair trials for Black Americans. By the 1930s, however, the activities of the NAACP began focusing on the complete integration of American society. One o…
See more on archives.gov

Five Cases Consolidated Under Brown v. Board of Education

  • By the 1950s, the NAACP was beginning to support challenges to segregation at the elementary school level. Five separate cases were filed in Kansas, South Carolina, Virginia, the District of Columbia, and Delaware: 1. Oliver Brown et al. v. Board of Education of Topeka, Shawnee County, Kansas, et al. 2. Harry Briggs, Jr., et al. v. R.W. Elliott, et al. 3. Dorothy E. Davis et al. v. County Sc…
See more on archives.gov

Supreme Court Rehears Arguments

  • Reargument of the Brown v. Board of Educationcases at the Federal level took place December 7-9, 1953. Throngs of spectators lined up outside the Supreme Court by sunrise on the morning of December 7, although arguments did not actually commence until one o'clock that afternoon. Spottswood Robinson began the argument for the appellants, and Thurgoo...
See more on archives.gov

The Warren Court

  • In September 1953, President Eisenhower had appointed Earl Warren, governor of California, as the new Supreme Court chief justice. Eisenhower believed Warren would follow a moderate course of action toward desegregation. His feelings regarding the appointment are detailed in the closing paragraphs of a letter he wrote to E. E. "Swede" Hazlett, a childhood friend (shown above…
See more on archives.gov

The Supreme Court Ruling

  • Finally, on May 17, 1954, Chief Justice Earl Warren read the unanimous opinion: school segregation by law was unconstitutional (shown above). Arguments were to be heard during the next term to determine exactly how the ruling would be imposed. Just over one year later, on May 31, 1955, Warren read the Court's unanimous decision, now referred to as Brown II(also shown a…
See more on archives.gov

Reaction

  • Despite two unanimous decisions and careful, if not vague, wording, there was considerable resistance to the Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. Board of Education. In addition to the obvious disapproving segregationists were some constitutional scholars who felt that the decision went against legal tradition by relying heavily on data supplied by social scientists rather than precede…
See more on archives.gov