Opinion in Brown v. Board of Education
This document is the Opinion in the landmark civil rights case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, dated August 3, 1951.
The 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education ruled that segregation in schools denied Black students equal protection under the law. Before it found its way to the highest court in the land, this case was filed at the United States District Court in Topeka, KS. Challenging an 1879 state law, 20 schoolchildren and their parents sued the Board of Education of Topeka alleging segregation violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. A three-judge panel at the U. S. District Court in Topeka unanimously disagreed and upheld segregation in Kansas public schools. This decision was appealed and overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Opinion in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, dated August 3. 1951. National Archives Identifier: 2641494.
View and download the Opinion from Brown v. Board of Education on the National Archives Catalog. You can explore more records held in the National Archives at Kansas City through the National Archives Catalog or by visiting our research room in person. These records are located in Record Group 21: Records of the District Court of the United States, Series: Civil Case Files, 1938–1998.