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Civil Rights Site

By: Source: AARP.org Date Posted: 2004-05-18 10:33:00-04:00

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by Samantha Stainburn

Years ago, Monroe Elementary School in Topeka, Kansas, kept people apart. Oliver Brown's daughter was forced to attend classes there instead of at of an all-white school much closer to home. He sued, and made history.

The former school is now the visitors' center for the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site (www.brownvboard.org), opening on May 17 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of that landmark civil rights case. The museum features photographs, oral histories, and interactive exhibits, including one that tells how parents challenged segregation in the courts long before Brown—way back to 1849.

Activist Fred Shuttlesworth, 82—keynote speaker at the opening ceremony—echoed Thurgood Marshall's observation that despite the strides made since 1954, "America can do better."

Samantha Stainburn is a freelance writer in New York City.