Post Date: April 8, 2004
Harvard University is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the landmark United States Supreme Court decision in the case, Brown v. Board of Education, with a weeklong series of lectures and panel discussions sponsored by Harvard Law School, and the Harvard Graduate School of Education, beginning Monday, April 12 through Saturday, April 17. Events are free and open to the public, and will be held on the campus of Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Mass.
The celebration is noteworthy in several contexts:
First, Harvard University has invited lawyers and judges who argued the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education before the Supreme Court, to celebrate the decision which mandated the desegregation of public schools with “all deliberate speed,” and which stated that all children are entitled to the same high quality of education regardless of race. This celebration presents the rare opportunity for the public to hear panel discussions with some of the 1954 attorneys who prepared and argued the case before the Supreme Court, and to hear their reflections on the impact of the decision fifty years later.
Also, the Harvard 50th Anniversary Celebration of Brown v. Board of Education provides the opportunity for the public to hear nationally known educators, economists, and lawyers, concerned with equal justice, discuss the impact of desegregation on schools and personal careers.
Highlights of the weeklong celebration include:
All events will be webcast live for those who are unable to attend.
Photo courtesy of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund