Separate Is Not Equal - Brown v. Board of Education

Smithsonian National Museum of American History Behring Center



header
Segregated America
The Battleground
  • The Educated Citizen
  • Quest for Education
  • Pursuit of Equality
Legal Campaign
Five Communities Change a Nation
The Decision
Legacy
Sheet music cover showing schoolroom

The Educated Citizen

Americans have long believed that a healthy democracy depends in part on free public education. The nation’s founders stressed that an educated citizenry would better understand their rights and help build a prosperous nation. Beginning in the early 1800s, the federal government and the states encouraged a public school system, largely under local control.

For millions of children, the American public school movement opened new opportunities. But millions of others were excluded because of their race or ethnicity. Segregated education was designed to confine these children to a subservient role in society and second-class citizenship.

Woodcut of early schoolroom, 1826-27

Woodcut of early schoolroom, 1826-27

Classroom objects from late 19th and early 20th century

Classroom objects from late 19th and early 20th century

Sheet music and classroom lesson card, about 1830s
School bell and student slate

Teacher’s school bell and student’s slate, 19th century

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