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The Young Ladies Academy opens
in Philadelphia, the first academy for girls in America, women enjoyed filling their free time with activities such as music, reading, and education as families became wealthier -
The New England Asylum for the Blind Opens
in Massachusetts, first school in the U.S. for children with visual disabilities -
Elizabeth Blackwell graduates from Geneva Medical College
first woman to graduate from medical school, she later becomes a pioneer in the education of women in medicine. -
Lincoln University Founded
first institution anywhere in the world to provide higher education in the arts and sciences for male youth of African descent, distinguished alumni include Langston Hughes and Thurgood Marshall -
Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is ratified and becomes law
guarantees privileges of citizenship including due process and equal protection under the law including the right to vote for freed male slaves; becomes the basis for the rulings in Brown v. Board of Education and Pyler v. Doe as well as many other important court cases -
The Civil Rights Act is passed
banning segregation in all public accommodations -
The first Indian boarding school opens
in Carlisle, Pennsylvania; the goal of assimilating Indian children into the mainstream culture; the schools leave a controversial legacy -
Everson v. Board of Education
the U.S. Supreme Court rules by a 5-4 vote that a New Jersey law which allowed reimbursements of transportation costs to parents of children who rode public transportation to school, even if their children attended Catholic schools, did NOT violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. -
McCollum v. Board of Education
the Supreme Court rules that schools cannot allow "released time" during the school day which allows students to participate in religious education in their public school classrooms -
Integration of Public Elementary Schools
Federal troops enforce integration in Little Rock, Arkansas as the Little Rock 9 enroll at Central High School
