Introduction

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the United States Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (1954), the Georgetown University Law Library presents the following information to assist with research pertaining to the decision in its library and on the internet.

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka overturned the previous Supreme Court ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896), by holding that "separate but equal" schools deprived citizens of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. The decision and the ensuing battles to actually integrate schools, particularly in the South, encapsulates an historic legal and social era in the history of the United States.

This guide will aid in the research of documents and resources pertaining to the Brown case, both in the Georgetown Law Center Library and on the internet. The internet page features, among other things, links to original document images of the Brown case, including the decision, letters and pictures.