1954 - Brown v. Board of Education Ends School Segregation

On May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. This historic decision marked a major victory in the Civil Rights Movement, overturning the Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) precedent of “separate but equal.” Spearheaded by Thurgood Marshall and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the case exposed the deep disparities in education and affirmed that segregated schools harmed Black children’s psychological development. The ruling helped spark further legal and grassroots activism, laying the foundation for widespread desegregation and the eventual passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The legacy of May 17 endures as a turning point in American history, representing a courageous stand against institutionalized racism and a powerful assertion of equal protection under the law.