Lawton, OK Branch NAACP  #6131
  • About Us
    • History
    • 2019 – 2020 Branch Officers
    • Contact Us
  • Advocacy & Issues
  • Events
  • Resources
    • Career Opportunities
    • Civil Rights/Discrimination Violations
    • Scholarships
  • Take Action
    • Become a Member
    • Donate
    • Get Involved

Brown vs. Board of Education, May 17, 1954

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Lawton, OK NAACP

May 17, 1954 marks a defining moment in the history of the United States.  On that day, the Supreme Court declared  the doctrine of  “separate but equal” unconstititutional and handed LDF  the most celebrated victory in its storied history.

Although the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown was ultimately unanimous, it occurred only after a hard-fought, multi-year campaign to persuade all nine justices to overturn the “separate but equal” doctrine that their predecessors had endorsed in the Court’s infamous 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision.  This campaign was conceived in the 1930s by Charles Hamilton Houston, then Dean of Howard Law School, and brilliantly executed in a series of cases over the next two decades by his star pupil, Thurgood Marshall, who became LDF’s first Director-Counsel.

The legal victory in Brown did not transform the country overnight, and much work remains.  But striking down segregation in the nation’s public schools provided a major catalyst for the civil rights movement, making possible advances in desegregating housing, public accommodations, and institutions of higher education.  The decision gave hope to millions of Americans by permanently discrediting the legal rationale underpinning the racial caste system that had been endorsed or accepted by governments at all levels since the end of the nineteenth century. And its impact has been felt by every American.

Read more about Brown vs. Board of Education…

« The Employment Non-Discrimination Act
Aiding and abetting voter disenfranchisement »

Now available on iPad/iPhone

Links

  • NAACP
  • NAACP LDF
  • The CRISIS Magazine
  • Leadership 500 Summit
  • Webmail

Contact Info

Office Address:
1512 SW Washington Ave.
Lawton, OK 73501

Phone: (580) 354-0355

Email: [email protected]

Youth Council Email: u[email protected]

Site Info

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
© 2012-2013 Lawton, OK Branch NAACP #6131