Letter to African American School Teacher.
This letter is from the Topeka school Superintendent, informing an African American teacher of how her employment would be affected if the Supreme Court decision ruled in favor of desegregating schools.
Administration and Teaching Faculty of Topeka Schools, ca. 1949.
Marshall was chief counsel for the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund and he argued the Brown v. Board of Education case in front of the Supreme Court on behalf of the Kansas plaintiffs.
Charles Scott was a lead attorney in the local case representing the Kansas plaintiffs in the historic Brown v. Board of Education U.S. Supreme Court decision. Scott attended the Topeka public schools and graduated from Topeka High School. After returning to Kansas from WWII, Scott earned his Bachelor’s of Law degree in 1948 and got his Juris Doctorate in 1970 from Washburn University. After earning his Bachelor's degree, Scott joined his father's law firm; he worked for integration of elementary schools in South Park, Johnson Co., Kansas and for access to Topeka theatres, restaurants, and pools. During the mid-1960s, Scott worked as a voluntary lawyer with the Lawyers Constitutional Defense Committee traveling to Mississippi to aid civil rights workers; he also served as a national legal counsel for the Congress of Racial Equality's (CORE). Beyond practicing law, he also taught part time at both the University of Kansas (1970-1971 in the Political Science Department) and Kansas State University (1971 in the Community and Urban Planning Department). Scott was a longtime member of the NAACP, serving for many years as chair of the Topeka Branch's Legal Redress Committee; he was also founder and chairman of the Coordinating Committee of the Black Community. Scott was an active member of many other organizations, including: Asbury Mt. Olive United Methodist Church, the Elks (Lodge No. 1441), and Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity.
Cleveland Elementary School class, c. 1940s/1950s.
Mr. Russell Cartwright, Principal Coffeyville, Montgomery County, Kansas.
Grade School Class, early 1900s, Hoxie, Kansas.
Early 1900s Douglas County, Kansas Ms. Lotta Watson, teacher.
Students in this First Grade Class reflect some of the racially integrated student bodies in Topeka’s elementary schools during the late 19th century.
Topeka Public Schools Photographs Collection
Topeka High Ramblers and Cheerleaders, 1940s, Topeka High School, Topeka, Kansas.
Organized in 1935, the Topeka High Ramblers Basketball Team and Cheerleaders afforded African Americans an opportunity to participate in high school athletics. Most African American high school students were prohibited from participating in school team sports unless they were African American Teams. Merrill Ross Collection Photographer: J.B. Anderson, Topeka, Kansas
Ms. Lois Abbott’s Kindergarten Class, 1955.
Washington School, Topeka, Kansas Established for African American students in 1904, Washington school supported the largest student body among the city’s four African American schools in 1954 and continued to do so for the remainder of the decade. However, Washington was located less than ten blocks away from Parkdale, a pre-1954 school for whites. Washington School closed in 1962. Parkdale School closed in 1978.