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Brown v. Board of Education: Quick Facts

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Facts

Date May 17, 1954
Location United States
Context American civil rights movement • McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education

Did You Know?

  • Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson, a supporter of the Plessy verdict, died in September 1953, just before the case was heard.
  • The 'Runyon v McCrary' verdict of 1976 declared that private, nonsectarian schools may also not deny admission based on race.
  • Six years after Brown v. Board, Southern schools still had not begun desegregation. Ten years after, still less than 2% of Southern African-American children attended desegregated schools.

Photos and Videos

George E.C. Hayes, Thurgood Marshall, and James Nabrit, Jr. smile together in front of the U.S. Supreme Court building.
Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County
Brown v. Board of Education
The justices who decided Brown v. Board of Education
Nettie Hunt and her daughter Nickie sit on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court building, holding a newspaper with the headline "High Court Bans Segregation in Public Schools."
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Related Topics and References

Topics

Timeline

George E.C. Hayes, Thurgood Marshall, and James Nabrit, Jr. smile together in front of the U.S. Supreme Court building.
Brown v. Board of Education
May 17, 1954
Rosa Parks sitting on a bus
Montgomery bus boycott
December 5, 1955 - December 20, 1956
Where the Greensboro sit-in happened
sit-in movement
1960 - 1961
Where the Greensboro sit-in happened
Greensboro sit-in
February 1, 1960 - July 1960
Blue and white pinback button reading Freedom Ride CORE.
Freedom Rides
May 4, 1961 - September 1961
March on Washington
March on Washington
August 28, 1963
President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the 1964 Civil Rights Act at a desk in the White House, surrounded by Martin Luther King, Jr. and a group of witnesses.
Civil Rights Act
1964
Selma March
Selma March
March 21, 1965 - March 25, 1965
At night in Los Angeles, police officers in helmets and leather jackets search several young Black men who are lined up against storefronts with their hands on the wall.
Watts Riots of 1965
August 11, 1965 - August 16, 1965
Mildred and Richard Loving
Loving v. Virginia
June 12, 1967
Poor People's Campaign
Poor People’s Campaign
June 19, 1968

Key People

Earl Warren
Earl Warren
chief justice of United States
Thurgood Marshall
Thurgood Marshall
United States jurist
Oliver W. Hill, Sr. wearing a suit, tie, and hat, stands outside a building entrance with brick and stone accents, looking toward the camera.
Oliver Hill
American lawyer

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