Sisters From Landmark Brown v. Board of Education Case to Speak at Eureka Collegeoctober 29 - 7:30 pm - cerf centerTwo children of the lead plaintiff in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka will speak on the importance of the case at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 29 in the Cerf Center at Eureka College. Cost is $5. A reception will follow.
Linda Brown and Cheryl Brown Henderson are daughters of the late the Rev. Oliver Brown, who in 1951 with 12 families and led by attorneys for the NAACP filed suit on behalf of their children against the local board of education. As a result, the Supreme Court in 1954 ruled that segregation of students in public schools violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because separate facilities are inherently unequal.
Brown and Henderson are committed to carrying on the civil rights movement’s legacy by promoting diversity in education, business and civic leadership, according to Henderson, who is president of the Brown Foundation for Educational Equity, Excellence and Research. Linda Brown is program associate at the foundation, which provides scholarships to minority students, establishes libraries for children in low income communities, develops curriculum on the Brown case for educators and sponsors programs on diversity and educational issues.
The foundation worked with the U.S. Congress to establish the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in Topeka and the Brown v. Board of Education 50th Anniversary Commission to commemorate the 2004 anniversary of the decision.
The women, who are former teachers, have spoken and written extensively about the case and have received numerous awards. Henderson received the National Alliance of Black School Educators Lifetime Achievement Award and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund Award of Excellence.
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Contact: Michele Lehman Media Relations Coordinator (309) 467-6318
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