Beneficial Supreme Court Cases

Plessy v Ferguson

In 1892, a shoemaker named Homer Plessy was arrested for sitting in the "white" car of the East Lousiana Railroad. He was only one-eighth black, but by this state's law, he was considered black and forced to sit in the "colored car." He took his case to the Supreme Court were a landmark ruling was made by Chief Justice Henry Brown. Plessy argued that the Seperate Car Act was unconstitutional because it violated the 13th and 14th Amendments to the Constitution. The court ruled that the law was indeed constitutional if the "seperate" sections were "equal."(for more information, see Plessy v Ferguson)

Brown v Topeka Board of Education

In the 1950's, segregation in public schools was a common practice. According to the Plessy case, the schools were supposed to be "seperate but equal." This however was usually not the case. Finally, opposition arose when Oliver Brown tried to enroll his young daughter into a nearby white school. She had previously had to walk one mile through a railroad switchyard to get to her "colored school." Enrollment was refused, so the NAACP offered to help the Browns. The case was taken to the Supreme Court were they argued that this violated the "seperate but equal" law because it gave black children the message that they were inferior to whites. The court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, and ordered the desegregation of all public schools. This of course did not happen. (for more information, see Brown v Topeka Board of Education)

These cases were important to the school on Pine Street because they gave it a reason for receiving more financial aid from the community. The Conway Board of Education realized that integration was not a possibility, and therefore gave the school more funding in order to keep the black communities from complaining. Thus, the school was expanded on, and more attempts at its improvement were made by the Conway community.

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