4Spring / Summer ‘04

BROWN V. TOPEKA BOARD OF EDUCATION:

T h eWashburn Connection

The distinctive statue, located in the law school’smain lobby, serves as a reminder of the vital rolesplayed by Washburn Law graduates in the land-mark civil rights case, from filing to final argu-ments. Today, as the nation commemorates the50th anniversary of Brown, we look back on theWashburn Law graduates who participated inwhat many describe as the most important legaldecision of the twentieth century.

THE INITIAL FILING

On February 28, 1951, three African-Americangraduates of Washburn Law, Charles Scott ’48,John Scott ’47 and Charles Bledsoe, filed the caseof Brown v. Topeka Board of Education in the U. S.District Court of Kansas. They had worked tire-lessly with McKinley Burnett, president of theTopeka Chapter of the NAACP, to recruit a groupof thirteen families willing to challenge the schoolboard’s maintenance of segregated elementaryschools in Topeka. They also recruited psycholo-gists and social scientists as expert witnesses totestify about the psychological harm of segrega-tion to school children. This testimony would playan important role in the Supreme Court’s 1954decision because the Kansas case was the onlycase to focus on the psychological harm of segre-gation to school children.

On May 17, 1984, Washburn Lawdedicated the statue “CommonJustice” to commemorate the 30thanniversary of the Supreme Court’s1954 decision in Brown v. TopekaBoard of Education.

50th Anniversar y

Charles Scott ‘48

Charles Scott, age 30, and his brotherJohn, age 32, were young lawyers whenthey filed the “case of the century,” butthey had been around the legal profes-sion all their lives. Their father, well-known Topeka lawyer Elisha Scott ’16,

was the third African-American to gradu-ate from Washburn Law. Both brothershad suspended their law studies whenthey were called for duty in World WarII, but returned to Washburn Law afterthe war. After graduation, they joinedtheir father and formed the law firm ofScott, Scott and Scott.

The senior Scott, who represented

Elisha Scott ‘16

minorities and poor whites in the Topekaarea, had championed the cause of inte-grating the public schools long beforeBrown. But by the time of the Brown trial,Elisha’s prime years were behind him,and his role in the case was limited. Hissons and Bledsoe carried most of the loadin preparing the case for trial.

Charles Bledsoe, who attended WashburnLaw a decade earlier, brought the Scottbrothers into the case asco-counsel. Bledsoe hadattended law school part-time while employed as aTopeka fireman. Hejoined Elisha Scott’s lawfirm after passing the barin 1937. Bledsoe wasactive in the NAACP, andfor a time he chaired thelegal committee of theassociation’s Topekabranch. He is credited with contacting thenational NAACP Legal Defense Fund forassistance in the case. At trial, the Scottbrothers and Bledsoe were joined byNAACP lawyers Robert Carter and JackGreenberg.

Counsel for theTopeka SchoolBoard were alsoWashburn Lawgraduates. LesterGoodell ’25served as chieftrial counsel withGeorge Brewster’29. Both menwere partners inthe firm Wheeler,Brewster, Huntand Goodell.

Kansas Attorney General Harold Fatzer ’33,another Washburn Law graduate, filedthe brief on behalf of the state.

Charles Bledsoe

The Washburn Lawyer

Harold Fatzer ‘33

John Scott ‘475

Spring / Summer ‘046

Within a week after filing thecomplaint, a three-judgepanel was designated andtrial was set for June 25. One of thejudges, Delmas Hill ’29, was also aWashburn Law graduate. Later that sum-mer, on August 3, 1951, the district courtupheld the right of the Topeka SchoolBoard to maintain segregated elemen-tary schools. In the opinion, however,the judges referred to evidence showingthe negative psychological impact ofstate-sponsored segregation. This wouldeventually appear in the SupremeCourt’s 1954 opinion.

George Brewster ‘29

Lester Goodell ‘25

Washburn Law Professor Chester J.Antieau wrote an article in the November1951 issue of the Kansas Bar AssociationJournal criticizing the courts decision. Hewrote, “It is morally wrong to perpetuatethe idea that one is different from hisbrother because of the accident of skin col-oring,” and concluded by calling upon theUnited States Supreme Court to afford“greater guidance.”

BROWN V. TOPEKA BOARD OF EDUCATION:

T h eWashburn Connection

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50th Anniversar yTHE APPEAL

After losing inthe districtcourt, plaintiffsappealed thecase to the U.S.Supreme Court.The Courtagreed to hearthe case in com-bination withfour similar

cases from South Carolina, Virginia,Delaware and the District ofColumbia. This group of five caseswas consolidated under the nameof Brown.

The Supreme Court heard thecase on Dec. 9, 1952. NAACPattorney Robert Carter presentedarguments for the plaintiffs in theKansas case. Kansas AssistantAttorney General Paul Wilson ’40,another Washburn Law graduate,represented the state. The TopekaBoard of Education had decidednot to file a brief or present oralarguments; however, the Board’sattorney, Peter Caldwell ’33, assist-ed the Kansas attorney general’soffice in its preparations.

The justices were unable to reacha decision and asked to reheararguments in all five cases the fol-lowing term. The state of Kansaswould once again be representedby Paul Wilson. In preparation forthe re-arguments, Fatzer andWilson asked Washburn LawProfessor Jim Ahrens to researchthe Fourteenth Amendment.Wilson would use Ahrens’ exhaus-tive research in his brief. Wilsonwas also assisted by a recentWashburn Law graduate, CharlesMcCarter ’53 who had joined the attorneygeneral’s office shortly after graduation.

He is the only surviving law schoolalumni to participate in the originalBrown litigation.

On May 17, 1954, Chief Justice EarlWarren read the Court’s unanimousopinion declaring school segregation bylaw unconstitutional. The opinionreferred to evidence submitted in theKansas district court that state-spon-sored segregation was harmful to chil-dren. “Whatever may have been theextent of psychological knowledge at

the time of Plessy v. Feguson, thisfinding is amply supportedby modern authority,” wrotethe Court. “We conclude,unanimously, that in thefield of public education, the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place.”

Delmas Hill ’29

Charles McCarter ‘53

Paul Wilson ‘40

Peter Caldwell ‘33

The Washburn Lawyer

The Supreme Court’s

decision in Brownmarked a

milestone in thenation’s long

journey towardracial equality, a

journey that continues today.We salute thoseWashburn Law graduates who

played such vital roles in this momentous

decision.