(NAME-MCE) Zelma Henderson

[Anselmo Villanueva]

Published Online: May 21, 2008

Includes corrections: May 28, 2008

For related stories, go tohttp://
www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/05/21/103650ksobithenderson_ap.html?tmp=1424547751
Last Surviving *Brown* v. *Board* Plaintiff Dies   In this May 1, 2004 file
photo, Zelma Henderson, the last surviving plaintiff in Topeka's *Brown* v.
*Board of Education* case, stands outside Lowman Hill Elementary School, in
Topeka, Kan. Lowman Hill, the first integrated school in Topeka, was the
first school Henderson's children attended after the ruling came down. Ms.
Henderson died on Tuesday, May 20, 2008 in Topeka. She was 88.
—Anthony S. Bush/Topeka Capital Journal/AP - File
  By The Associated
Press<http://www.edweek.org/ew/contributors/the.associated.press.html>

   -

 Topeka, Kansas

The last surviving Topeka plaintiff in the *Brown* v. *Board of
Education*case that led to the landmark ruling outlawing school
segregation has died
at 88.

Zelma Henderson died Tuesday in Topeka, six weeks after being diagnosed with
pancreatic cancer.

In 1950 she signed onto the litigation on behalf of her children challenging
Topeka's segregated schools. In all, 13 black parents, including the Rev.
Oliver Brown, took part in the federal court case.

Oliver Brown was involved in the lawsuit on behalf of his oldest daughter,
Linda. He wanted her to attend an all-white school five blocks from home
rather than an all-black school 20 blocks away.

The plaintiffs lost in U.S. District Court, but the case was appealed to the
U.S. Supreme Court, along with similar cases from Virginia, South Carolina
and Delaware, all challenging the constitutionality of racial segregation of
public schools. They were consolidated by the court as *Brown* v. *Board*. A
similar case from the District of Columbia was decided the same day, but
wasn't part of *Brown*.

The high court's unanimous ruling overturning school segregation came on May
17, 1954. It outlawed the "separate but equal" doctrine and was a prelude to
the civil rights movement.

"It was the first big legal victory to chip away at Jim Crow," said Dennis
Vasquez, superintendent of the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic
Site in Topeka.

He said Zelma Henderson was actively involved with the historic site,
including being part of an interactive video for visitors.

"Her passing is a rather large milestone in the history of the case and that
period of our history. It puts it in more of a historical perspective
because there are no longer any living plaintiffs in the Topeka case,"
Vasquez said.

"Even though she has recently passed and we're saddened by it, we're pleased
she will be immortalized in our museum and was able to speak directly about
her experience." he said.

As a child in the 1920s and '30s, she had attended desegregated schools in
the western Kansas town of Oakley. She was disgusted when she learned her
children would be required to attend segregated schools in Topeka. Kansas
state law permitted segregated elementary schools in towns with at least
15,000 residents.

Her children attended an all-black school that was 10 blocks farther away
from their home than a whites-only school.

"I wanted my children to know all races like I did," Henderson told The
Associated Press in 2004. "It means a lot to a person's outlook on life. No
inferiority complex at all, that's what I wanted for my children as far as
race was concerned."

Cheryl Brown Henderson, a daughter of Oliver Brown and president of the
Brown Foundation, said Zelma Henderson was an inspiration during the 14-year
push to open the historic site operated by the National Park Service. She's
not related to Zelma Henderson and was too young to be part of the lawsuit.

The historic site opened May 17, 2004, the 50th anniversary of the
*Brown*decision, with President Bush speaking at the dedication
ceremony. It's in
the former Monroe Elementary School that 9-year-old Linda Brown attended.

While Zelma Henderson was the last surviving Topeka plaintiff, there still
are some plaintiffs from other states whose cases were consolidated into *
Brown*.

"We are going to have voices of that legacy with us for decades to come,"
Cheryl Brown Henderson said.