1. Challenging Segregation
Mr. Marinello * US History

2. Plessy vs. Ferguson
The landmark 1896 Supreme Court case decided that segregation was legal, provided it was separate and equal.
Beginning in 1909, the NAACP began challenging the laws passed under Plessy
Segregated transportation
Segregated schools
In 1938, the NAACP put together a team to challenge segregation laws across the country

3. Thurgood Marshall
One of the lawyers working with the NAACP was 30 year old lawyer, Thurgood Marshall.
Marshall works for years with NAACP trying to overturn segregationist laws across the south.
In 1967, Marshall is nominated to the Supreme Court by Lyndon Johnson
He is the first African American to serve.
He serves on the Supreme Court until 1991

4. Brown vs. Board of Education
The efforts of the NAACP and Marshall culminated in one case in 1954.
The case was instigated by a lawsuit from parents against the Board of Education of the City of Topeka, Kansas.
The Supreme Court combined suits from South Carolina, Delaware, Kansas, and Washington D.C. into the Brown case.
The Supreme Court decided the case unanimously.

5. Brown vs. Board of Education
Brown overturns Plessy vs. Ferguson and declares that segregation is in fact unconstitutional because it does not provide equal application of the law.
The case affects 12 million students across the country

6. Effects of Brown Within a year many schools were fully desegregated.
Some states were faster than others at changing their laws
Some states resisted the order
In 1955, the Supreme Court issued an order calling for the Brown decision to be implemented “with all deliberate speed”
Still some southern states dragged their feet.

7. The Little Rock Nine In 1957, Arkansas schools began to integrate
Nine young black students volunteered to integrate Little Rock’s Central High School.
The governor of Arkansas, Orval Faubus, refused to let the students enter the school
He ordered the National Guard to prevent their entrance into the school
President Eisenhower eventually took control of the National Guard away from Faubus and ordered the Army to protect and escort the students into the school.