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Dred Scott, Plaintiff in Error v. John F. A. Sanford
"The Supreme Court denied citizenship to Black people, setting the stage for their treatment as second class citizens." -
Period: to
Brown v. Board of Education
A timeline of the events leading up to the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court Case in 1954. -
Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands
"The first Black schools were set up under the direction of the Freedmen’s Bureau." -
Civil Rights Act of 1866
"The intention of this law was to protect all persons in the United States, including Blacks, in their civil rights." -
Civil Rights Act of 1875
"Discrimination in places of public accommodation was prohibited." -
Civil Rights Cases
"The Court declared that the Fourteenth Amendment does not prohibit discrimination by private individuals or businesses, paving the way for segregation in public education." -
Cumming v. Board of Education
"The Supreme Court upheld a local school board's decision to close a free public Black school due to fiscal constraints, despite the fact that the district continued to operate two free public white schools." -
Berea College v. Commonwealth of Kentucky
The NAACP became the primary tool for the legal attack on segregation, eventually trying the Brown v. Board of Education case. -
Gong Lum v. Rice
The Court applied the "separate but equal" formulation of Plessy v. Ferguson to the public schools. -
NAACP begins challenging segregation
"Assisted by his protege Thurgood Marshall, Charles Hamilton Houston, of the NAACP, began his strategy of challenging segregation in graduate and professional schools." -
Thurgood Marshall named special counsel of the NAACP
"Thurgood Marshall would eventually lead counsel in the Brown v. Board of Education case." -
February
"On February 28, Brown v. Board of Education was filed in Federal district court, in Kansas." -
December 9th – 11th
"First round of arguments held in Brown and its companion cases." -
June
"The Supreme Court ordered that a second round of arguments in Brown v. Board be heard in October." -
September
"Chief Justice Fred Vinson Jr. died unexpectedly of a heart attack on the 8th. California Governor Earl Warren will take his place." -
December 7th – 9th
"Second round of arguments in Brown v. Board of Education." -
Brown v. Board of Education
"The Court overturned Plessy v. Ferguson, and declared that racial segregation in public schools violated the Equal Protection clause of the 14th Amendment."
