27 March 2018 - Linda Brown, Center Of Brown v. Board Of Education, Dies At 76
Linda Brown, Who Was At Center Of Brown v. Board Of Education, Dies
Vanessa Romo (NPR, 26/03/2018)
Linda Brown, who as a schoolgirl was at the center of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that rejected racial segregation in American schools, died in Topeka, Kan., Sunday afternoon. She was 76.
Her sister, Cheryl Brown Henderson, confirmed the death to The Topeka Capital-Journal.
The 1954 U.S. Supreme Court case, Brown v. Board of Education, involved several families, all trying to dismantle decades of federal education laws that condoned segregated schools for black and white students. But it began with Brown's father Oliver, who tried to enroll her at the Sumner School, an all-white elementary school in Topeka just a few blocks from the Browns' home.
Linda Brown, Symbol of Landmark Desegregation Case, Dies
Neil Genzlinger (The New York Times, 26/03/2018)
Linda Brown, whose father objected when she was not allowed to attend an all-white school in her neighborhood and who thus came to symbolize one of the most transformative court proceedings in American history, the school desegregation case Brown v. Board of Education, died on Sunday in Topeka, Kan. She was 75.
Her death was confirmed on Monday by a spokesman for the Peaceful Rest Funeral Chapel in Topeka, which is handling her funeral arrangements. He did not specify the cause.
It is Ms. Brown’s father, Oliver, whose name is attached to the famous case, although the suit that ended up in the United States Supreme Court actually represented a number of families in several states. In 1954, in a unanimous decision, the court ruled that segregated schools were inherently unequal. The decision upended decades’ worth of educational practice, in the South and elsewhere, and its ramifications are still being felt.
Linda Brown, Kansas student whose case ended school segregation, dies at 76
Associated Press (The Guardian, 26/03/2018)
Linda Brown, the Kansas girl at the center of the 1954 supreme court ruling that struck down racial segregation in American schools, has died. She was 76.
Topeka’s former Sumner School was all-white when Brown’s father, Oliver, tried to enroll the family. He became lead plaintiff in the 1954 Brown v Board of Education supreme court decision that ended school segregation.
The landmark case began after several black families in Topeka were turned down when they tried to enroll their children in white schools near their homes. It was brought before the supreme court by the legal arm of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and joined with cases from Delaware, South Carolina, Virginia and the District of Columbia.
Interview with Linda Brown Smith
(Washington University Digital Gateway Texts, 26/10/1985)
Interview with Linda Brown Smith, conducted by Blackside, Inc. on October 26, 1985, for Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years (1954-1965). Washington University Libraries, Film and Media Archive, Henry Hampton Collection.These transcripts contain material that did not appear in the final program. Only text appearing in bold italics was used in the final version of Eyes on the Prize.