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*Linda Brown, who as a 9–year-old girl was at the center of the Brown v. Board of Education case that ended segregation in American schools, died Sunday afternoon in Topeka, Kansas, a funeral home spokesman said. She was 75.
While a third grader In 1951, Linda’s father, Oliver Brown, tried to enroll her at the all-white Sumner Elementary School near their Topeka home. When the school blocked her enrollment her father sued the Topeka Board of Education.
Four similar cases were combined with Brown’s complaint and presented to the Supreme Court as Oliver L. Brown et al v. Board of Education of Topeka, Shawnee County, Kansas, et al.
“Linda Brown is one of that special band of heroic young people who, along with her family, courageously fought to end the ultimate symbol of white supremacy — racial segregation in public schools. She stands as an example of how ordinary schoolchildren took center stage in transforming this country,” said Sherrilyn Ifill, president and director-counsel at NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
“It was not easy for her or her family, but her sacrifice broke barriers and changed the meaning of equality in this country.”
The ruling overturned Plessy v. Ferguson, which established the separate but equal doctrine that formed the legal basis for Jim Crow laws. The court directed schools to desegregate “with all deliberate speed,” but it failed to establish a firm timetable for doing so. The Supreme Court would outline the process of school desegregation in Brown II in 1955, but it would take years for schools across the nation to fully comply.
Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer on Monday acknowledged Brown’s contribution to American history.
“Sixty-four years ago a young girl from Topeka brought a case that ended segregation in public schools in America. Linda Brown’s life reminds us that sometimes the most unlikely people can have an incredible impact and that by serving our community we can truly change the world.”
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