TC is celebrating the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education with lectures, conferences and many other events throughout 2004.

In February "From Topeka to Harlem: The Spirit of Brown Lives on in New York City" featured Congressman Charles Rangel, Region 10 Superintendent Lucille Swarns and a conversation with actor, comedian and educator Bill Cosby. They spoke to 500 ninth-grade students from 17 high schools in Harlem's Region 10 at Riverside Church. Cosby exhorted students to appreciate the opportunity for an education and to make the best of it, "Brown is about people of all colors arguing about your future so you could have the opportunity to sit, study and move forward."

FOR MORE: A Conversation with Cosby Event Website; "A Conversation with Bill Cosby Celebrates Brown at 50" with Multimedia footage of Cosby's speech (Inside TC Newsletter, February 2004)

On March 30, Amy Stuart Wells, Professor of Sociology and Education, and scholars at UCLA released results of the first-ever study on the significance of school desegregation from the perspective of the students who lived it. "How Desegregation Changed Us: The Effects of Racially Mixed Schools on Students and Society," shows while students greatly benefited from interaction with members of other races, desegregation was limited to within integrated schools, and students tended to return to segregated neighborhoods after school.

FOR MORE: "How Desegregation Changed Us: The Effects of Racially Mixed Schools on Students and Society" with Multimedia and a Link to the Study

A graduate student conference exploring the impact of Brown on American education and society was held on April 2. Coordinated by V.P. Franklin, Professor of History and Education, the conference presented various aspects of segregation that were affected by the decision. Papers presented at the conference will be considered for a special issue of The Journal of African American History entitled "Brown v. Board of Education, 1954-2004: Fifty Years of Social and Educational Change in the United States."

FOR MORE: Graduate Student Conference: The Impact of the Brown Decision on American Education and Society Web site

On May 1, Teachers College Record (TCR) published an online special issue commemorating Brown, which includes 30 articles written by activists, researchers and lawyers capturing the history of Brown as a social movement and its legacy for those who still struggle to provide equal educational opportunities. TCR collaborated with New York Univeristy's Metro Center, which has been tracking the progress of Brown since 1974 and hosted a "Brown Plus 50" conference in New York in May.

FOR MORE: TC Record Special Issue Web site

For more information on all the events at Teachers College commemorating the annivesary of Brown v. Board of Education, visit: Brown v. Board of Education as a Social Movement: The Legacy and Its Meaning Today

Published Thursday, Jan. 13, 2005