ERIC Number: EJ704064
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2004-May-20
Pages: 6
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0742-0277
EISSN: N/A
The View from Topeka: Brown Plaintiffs, Local Officials Recall Victories Won, Declare Battles that Remain to Be Fought: Brown@50-- How Far Have We Come?
Hamilton, Kendra; Cerstvik, Joan Preston
Black Issues in Higher Education, v21 n7 p32 May 2004
It's a little-known fact, but, 50 years ago, the junior high and high schools of Topeka, Kan., were integrated--though in name only. Fear was the order of the day at the high school, where an African American assistant superintendent by the name of Harrison Caldwell roamed the halls as the "White folks' enforcer," ensuring that African American and White students didn't fall into casual conversations, keeping the sports teams and dances segregated, herding the Black children into separate assemblies. Fifty years later, Harrison Caldwell and the fear and loathing his reign inspired are little more than bitter memories. And the teachers, students and administrators of Topeka's Unified School District 501 are swept up in a whirlwind of conversations, art and essay contests, and other special programs leading up to a huge community event: the May 17 dedication of the Brown V. Board of Education National Historic Site on the grounds of Monroe Elementary, the most prominent of the four segregated elementary schools serving Black children in those long-ago days.
Descriptors: Racial Segregation, School Segregation, Desegregation Litigation, African American Students, White Students, Court Litigation, Educational History, Access to Education, School Desegregation, Civil Rights
Cox Matthews and Associates, Inc., 10520 Warwick Avenue, Suite B-8, Fairfax, VA 22030-3136. Web site: http://www.blackissues.com.
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Kansas; Kentucky; New York (New York); Washington
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A