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PDII Virtual

Opening Up History: On the Road to Brown v. Board of Education

May 5, 2025 @ 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm

Learn the intriguing history of school desegregation through a pluralistic lens by exploring some case studies before 1954.

Event Description

The 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court case is hailed as a milestone in American progress but did you know that Black Americans, Mexican Americans, Indigenous Americans, and Asian Americans were fighting for equal access to public education before the famous 1954 case? We will take up the intriguing history of school desegregation through a pluralistic lens by exploring some case studies before 1954: Roberts v. City of Boston (1849, Black American), Tape v. Hurley (1885, Chinese American), Piper v. Big Pine (1924, Indigenous American), Lum v. Rice (1927, Chinese American), Mendez v. Westminster (1947, Mexican American), and a New Jersey case Hedgepeth and Williams v. Board of Education, Trenton (1944, Black Americans). These legal cases highlight the reality of American pluralism. We will complicate the story of school desegregation by asking: Do you teach in an integrated school? Lesson plans adapted for K-5 and 6-12 will be made available to participants.