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Local Activist, Esther Brown

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By Rhonda Cooksey

It is commonly known that Brown v. Board of Education was one of the landmark decisions of the twentieth century. It was named for Oliver Brown, one of 33 plaintiffs in the case whose name was chosen simply because the attorney felt it was better to represent a man in the courtroom than parents and children. But, did you know there was another Brown involved? Esther Brown was a 30-year-old Jewish housewife from Merriam, Kansas who became integral to the case. She got involved when the South Park community built a new high school for white children in 1947.

At the time, her maid’s children attended J. C. Walker, an African American grade school in a dilapidated one room building with dirt floors, no indoor restroom, and few educational resources. Mrs. Brown joined the local chapter of the NAACP in support of a lawsuit known as Webb v. School District 90. She met with families, encouraged them to boycott the Walker school, and persevered to help raise funds to pay the teachers’ salaries even after being reminded that the Ku Klux Klan was still active in the area. According to “Profiles in Kansas City Activism” at UMKC, even after the court ordered the integration of the South Park school district, she dressed five Walker school graduates in new clothes and shoes and “escorted them to segregated Shawnee Mission high school to register for classes. The principal admitted the children without incident.”

Brown then turned her attention to the fight in Topeka, raising funds for what came to be known as Brown v. Board of Education. Amazingly, the justices felt they had to desegregate the schools because of the infamous Plessy v. Ferguson case that upheld racial segregation under the “separate but equal” clause. All over America schools for black children were separate but certainly not equal to schools for white children. Esther Brown’s activism and ability to mobilize the community made her a driving force for desegregation during an age when few women wielded power in national politics. Brown Memorial Mark at 5040 Booker St. in Merriam is named in her honor.