Press Release

600 LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TO LEARN FROM REENACTMENT OF BROWN V BOARD DECISION


The Illinois Humanities Council and the Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago Co-sponsor a Reenactment and Discussion ofthis Landmark Supreme Court Decision

CHICAGO — The Illinois Humanities Council (IHC) and the Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago present “Brown at 50″,” on Thursday, October 14 from 9:30- noon at Thorne Auditorium, 375 E. Chicago Avenue, Chicago. The schedule for the day is as follows:


9:30 AM Welcome

9:45 am May It Please the Court: Brown v. the Topeka Board of Education (1954)

Excerpts from transcripts of the actual oral arguments made before the Supreme Court of the United States

10:15 am Applying Brown: Parents v. School District [a hypothetical case]

Facilitator: Thomas P. Sullivan (Partner, Jenner & Block, former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Co-Chair of Governor Ryan’s Commission on Capital Punishment)

Participants: Selected Students from Participating High Schools

11:00-11:45AM The Legacy of Brown: Questions and Commentary

Moderator: Thomas P. Sullivan

Respondent: George N. Leighton, Former U.S. District Court Judge for the Northern District of Illinois




Students from the following high schools will participate in this day of learning:


  • Downers Grove North High School – Downers Grove, IL
  • Farragut Career Academy High School – Chicago, IL
  • Hinsdale South High School – Darien, IL
  • Kelly High School – Chicago, IL
  • Kenwood Academy – Chicago, IL
  • Lincoln-Way East High School – Frankfort, IL
  • Morgan Park High School – Chicago, IL
  • Morton East High School – Cicero, IL
  • Perspectives Charter School – Chicago, IL
  • Resurrection High School – Chicago, IL
  • Stagg High School – Palos Hills, IL
  • Streamwood High School – Streamwood, IL
  • Stevenson High School – Lincolnshire, IL
  • Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart – Lake Forest, IL

“Brown at 50″ is part of the IHC’s “Brown v. Board 50 Years Later: Conversations on Integration, Race, and the Courts,” a free, year-long series of programs going on around Illinois from May 2004-May 2005. For a calendar of events or for more information, please visit the IHC’s “Brown v. Board 50 Years Later” website at www.bvb50.org or contact the IHC at 312.422.5580 or via email at ihc@prairie.org.

“Brown at 50″ is funded by a grant from Polk Bros. Foundation and sponsored by Illinois Humanities Council and the Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago.

Chicago Public Radio (WBEZ 91.5), Chicago Sun-Times, Comcast, and

WYCC-TV Channel 20 are media sponsors for “Brown v. Board 50 Years Later.”

“Brown v. Board 50 Years Later” is funded in part by grants from The Boeing

Company, Jovon Broadcasting, the Polk Bros. Foundation, The Richard H.

Driehaus Foundation, and Woods Fund of Chicago.

D A R E T O K N O W

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