The Court will continue to hold this re-enactment each May to commemorate the anniversary of this case. We invite classroom teachers, home school groups, history clubs and so forth to contact Dr. Elizabeth Osborn at eosborn@courts.state.in.us if you are interested in participating in future performances. For other field trip programs in the Indiana Supreme Court courtroom, please contact Dr. Osborn or visit http://www.in.gov/judiciary/citc/trips.html.

Overview

High court bans segregation in public schools (Click on the image to view a Brown v. Board photo gallery)

The case that came to be known as Brown v. Board of Education was actually the name given to four separate cases that were heard by the U.S. Supreme Court concerning the issue of segregation in public schools. While the facts of each case were different, the main issue in each was the constitutionality of state-sponsored segregation in public schools.

On May 17, 1954 Chief Justice Earl Warren delivered the unanimous opinion of the court declaring that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional.

"We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal."

In a related case, the Supreme Court would later order that desegregation proceed "with all deliberate speed."

On Thursday, May 18, 2006 Kitley Intermediate School History Club (Indianapolis) students and Heritage Christian (Indianapolis) students recreated the events of these four cases and the historic Supreme Court decision.

Watch Current and Past Recreations

Video Description	RealOne Player	Length
May 18, 2006 Performance		55 min
November 9, 2004 Performance A Spirit and Place Event		58 min
May 17, 2004 Performance 50th Anniversary Celebration		51 min
"Brown v. Board of Education: The Positives and the Negatives" (CLE Session)		47 min

Supporting Materials

Document	Format	Pages	Size
The Indiana celebration of the Anniversaries of Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education “52nd Anniversary Celebration” Indiana Supreme Court Chambers Thursday, May 18, 2006		4	231 kb
Read the Press Release About This Event (originally performed on May 17, 2004)	Web	N/A	N/A
Proclamation by Governor Kernan of May 17 as Brown v. Board of Education Day in Indiana		1	89 kb
Reenactment Scripts Developed by Courts in the Classroom
Cast List		2	64 kb
Briggs v. Elliott Clarendon County, South Carolina, 1948		1	35 kb
Brown v. Board of Education Topeka, Kansas 1951		1	34 kb
Brown v. Board of Education Washington DC, 1954		4	79 kb
Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County Prince Edward County, Virginia, 1951		1	35 kb
Gebhart v. Belton Claymont Delaware, 1951		1	35 kb
Teaching Guides and Similar Resources
An annotated bibliography of books dealing with Brown v. Board and Civil Rights For young adults and children		22	426 kb
The Brown Quarterly (Newsletter Archives) A quarterly newsletter that encourages teachers to promote diversity and tolerance in their classrooms.	Web	N/A	N/A
The Brown Quarterly Volume 6, No. 2 (Spring 2004) — 50th Anniversary Issue May 17 Grand Opening of National Historic Site: Brown v. Board of Education	Web	N/A	N/A
The Brown Quarterly Volume 4, No. 2 (Winter 2001) — Black History Month Issue Revisiting Our Past: Brown v. Board of Education	Web	N/A	N/A
Brown v. Board of Education: A Teacher’s Resource Guide to Preparing Curriculum Materials	Web	N/A	N/A
Brown v. Board of Education Photo Gallery	Web	N/A	N/A
Teaching Tolerance Magazine; Brown v. Board: An American Legacy This site includes a timeline of school integration in the United States, classroom activities and resources, and teaching tools.	Web	N/A	N/A
Other State and Federal Court Resources
Kansas Judicial Branch Photo Album	Web	N/A	N/A
Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court	Web	N/A	N/A
U.S. District Court Opinion: Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Shawnee County, Kansas	Web	N/A	N/A
U.S. Supreme Court Opinion: Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (I)	Web	N/A	N/A
U.S. Supreme Court Opinion: Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (II)	Web	N/A	N/A
Websites Dedicated to Brown v. Board of Education and/or the Civil Rights Movement
An Interactive Civil Rights Chronology (Home Page) A Yale School of Law site dedicated to the Brown v. Board of Education case.	Web	N/A	N/A
An Interactive Civil Rights Chronology (Events of 1954) A Yale School of Law site dedicated to the Brown v. Board of Education case.	Web	N/A	N/A
Brown v. Board of Education—NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Includes images, online resources, and a chronology of Brown v. Board	Web	N/A	N/A
Looking Back: Brown v. Board of Education This is the companion site to the National Public Radio series on Brown v. Board. Through this site, you can access actual audio clips from the NPR program as well as other Brown resources.	Web	N/A	N/A
Library of Congress Civil Rights Website Library of Congress site that has information on the Civil Rights movement. There are good images that pertain to the Civil Rights movement, however, not many on the Brown v. Board decision.	Web	N/A	N/A
University of Michigan Library’s “Digital Archive of Brown V. Board of Education” This is an archive established by the University of Michigan that contains several documents and images that chronicle the Brown events.	Web	N/A	N/A