Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park

Arthur Shores

Chief Justice Earl Warren

George E.C. Hayes

Harold Boulware

Jack Greenberg

Lucinda Todd

Rev. Oliver L. Brown

Robert L. Carter

For African Americans, the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education encouraged and empowered many who felt for the first time in more than half a century that they had a "friend" in the Court. The strategy of education, lobbying, and litigation that had defined the Civil Rights Movement up to that point broadened to include an emphasis on a "direct action.

View the recipients of the 2025 National Park Service Excellence in Interpretation Awards, which recognize outstanding contributions to the practice of interpretation and education by NPS employees.

Following the landmark Oliver L. Brown et al. v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas in 1954, public schools could no longer segregate students using racial categories or ethnic backgrounds. In 1992, the events surrounding this historic case became the basis for the creation of the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site, which includes the Monroe Elementary School.

Claymont Community Center in Claymont, Delaware, was the recent recipient of a National Park Foundation, ParkVentures grant to create a multi-generational art program for community residents. “A Walk in the Park: Discovering the First State through Nature and Art,” allowed participants to engage in recreational and educational opportunities available at partnering sites of First State National Historical Park, Delaware’s only National Park Service location.

Constance Baker Motley was a woman of unquestionable talent, perseverance, and courage; she dedicated her life to upholding the law and paving the way for many other women of color to pursue prominent positions in the legal profession. Learn more about her life and how she championed ideas of justice, equality, and tenacity.

Text of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech in 1956 about school integration and the Brown v. Board decisions.

South Carolina built over 700 modern schools for African American students in the 1950s and 1960s to avoid desegregating its school systems.

The Monroe Elementary School in Topeka Kansas is associated with the 1954 Supreme Court decision in the case of Brown v. Board of Education. Linda Brown, who attended the segregated Monroe Elementary School, was denied enrollment in Sumner Elementary School. The location of the schools and the quality of their education were material to the Court's findings, which led to legal and social changes demanding classroom equality for all Americans.