In
the
early
1950s
,
Linda
was
a
young
African
American
student
in
the
Topeka
,
Kansas
school
district
.
Every
day
she
and
her
sister
,
Terry
Lynn
,
had
to
walk
through
the
Rock
Island
Railroad
Switchyard
to
get
to
the
stop
for
the
ride
to
the
all
-
black
Monroe
School
.
Linda
Brown
tried
to
gain
to
the
Sumner
School
,
which
was
closer
to
her
house
,
but
her
was
denied
by
the
Board
of
Education
of
Topeka
because
of
her
race
.
The
Sumner
School
was
for
children
only
.
Under
the
laws
of
the
time
,
many
public
facilities
were
by
race
.
The
precedent
-
setting
Plessy
v
.
Ferguson
case
,
which
was
decided
by
the
Court
of
the
United
States
in
1896
,
allowed
for
such
segregation
.
In
that
case
,
a
black
man
,
Homer
,
challenged
a
Louisiana
law
that
required
railroad
companies
to
provide
equal
,
but
,
accommodations
for
the
white
and
African
American
races
.
He
claimed
that
the
Louisiana
law
violated
the
Amendment
,
which
demands
that
states
provide
"
equal
protection
of
the
laws
.
"
However
,
the
Supreme
Court
of
the
United
States
held
that
as
long
as
segregated
facilities
were
qualitatively
equal
,
segregation
did
not
violate
the
Fourteenth
Amendment
.
In
doing
so
,
the
Court
classified
segregation
as
a
matter
of
social
,
out
of
the
control
of
the
system
concerned
with
maintaining
legal
equality
.
The
Court
stated
,
"
If
one
race
be
inferior
to
the
other
socially
,
the
constitution
of
the
United
States
cannot
put
them
on
the
same
plane
.
"
At
the
time
of
the
Brown
case
,
a
Kansas
statute
,
but
did
not
,
cities
of
more
than
15
,
000
people
to
maintain
separate
school
for
black
and
white
students
.
On
that
basis
,
the
Board
of
Education
of
Topeka
elected
to
establish
segregated
elementary
schools
.
Other
public
schools
in
the
community
were
operated
on
a
,
or
unitary
,
basis
.
At
the
time
of
the
Brown
case
,
a
Kansas
statute
permitted
,
but
did
not
require
,
cities
of
more
than
15
,
000
people
to
maintain
separate
school
facilities
for
and
students
.
On
that
basis
,
the
Board
of
Education
of
Topeka
elected
to
establish
segregated
elementary
schools
.
Other
public
schools
in
the
community
were
operated
on
a
nonsegregated
,
or
,
basis
.
The
Browns
felt
that
the
decision
of
the
Board
violated
the
Constitution
.
They
sued
the
Board
of
Education
of
Topeka
,
alleging
that
the
segregated
school
system
Linda
Brown
of
the
equal
protection
of
the
laws
required
under
the
Fourteenth
Amendment
.
No
State
shall
.
.
.
to
any
person
within
its
the
equal
protection
of
the
laws
.
?
Equal
Protection
Clause
of
the
Fourteenth
Amendment
of
the
U
.
S
.
Constitution
Thurgood
Marshall
,
an
for
the
National
Association
for
the
Advancement
of
Colored
People
(
)
,
argued
the
Brown's
case
.
Marshall
would
later
become
a
Supreme
Court
justice
.
The
three
-
judge
federal
district
court
found
that
segregation
in
public
education
had
a
effect
upon
black
children
,
but
the
court
denied
that
there
was
any
violation
of
Brown's
rights
because
of
the
"
separate
but
equal
"
doctrine
established
in
the
Supreme
Court's
1896
Plessy
decision
.
The
court
found
that
the
schools
were
substantially
equal
with
respect
to
buildings
,
transportation
,
curricula
,
and
educational
qualifications
of
teachers
.
The
Browns
appealed
their
case
to
the
Supreme
Court
of
the
United
States
,
claiming
that
the
segregated
schools
were
not
equal
and
could
never
be
made
equal
.
The
Court
combined
the
case
with
several
similar
cases
from
South
Carolina
,
Virginia
,
and
Delaware
.
The
ruling
in
the
Brown
v
.
Board
of
Education
case
came
in
1954
.
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