The opinion and judgment from Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka are currently on display in the East Rotunda Gallery of the National Archives Building in honor of #BlackHistoryMonth. Damani Davis, reference archivist and subject matter expert for records related to the African American experience, discusses the significance of these documents and their legacy on the Civil Rights movement.

The unanimous ruling in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka stated that “separate but equal” was unconstitutional in public schools. The Supreme Court opinion written by Chief Justice Earl Warren in 1954 stated that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.” The follow-up judgment delivered in 1955 directed the states to develop desegregation plans “with all deliberate speed.”

These documents will be on display until Wednesday, February 28, 2024.

The National Archives hosts a rotating exhibit of featured documents made possible in part by the National Archives Foundation. Plan your visit: https://museum.archives.gov/featured-...

Document 1: Opinion, Brown v. Board of Education, May 17, 1954. National Archives Identifier 1656510. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/1656510

Document 2: Judgment in the Supreme Court Decision for Brown et al. v. Board of Education of Topeka et al., May 31, 1955. National Archives Identifier 596300. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/596300

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