Yearlong Brown Observance Culminates with Exhibit Unveiling and Gala Tribute

In grand style, Howard University’s yearlong commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education culminated on Monday, May 17, with the unveiling of a national exhibit at the School of Law and a gala tribute co-sponsored by the NAACP and NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF). The exhibit, “Marching Toward Justice: A History of the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution,” chronicles the history of race in the United States and how race shaped the adoption and interpretation of the 14th Amendment. The images tell the story from the slaves’ journey across the Middle Passage to the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision, highlighting those individuals who fought for justice. The exhibit will be open through Friday, July 30.

President Swygert delivers remarks at Brown gala.

Highlighting the individuals who fought for justice was the focus of the commemorative gala event held in the evening at Constitution Hall. Themed “Honoring the Heroes of the Landmark Decision,” the University joined with the NAACP and the LDF in honoring the justices, lawyers, plaintiffs and social scientists, who were a part of the historic decision, as well as the contemporaries who are working to ensure its continuous fulfillment.

“I feel especially honored to represent Howard University on this occasion,” said President H. Patrick Swygert. “Just as important as the individuals behind the Brown victory was Howard University. It was the Howard University School of Law that functioned as a fertile breeding ground for ideas, the birthplace of a new social strategy for achieving racial equality.”

More than 40 “Pioneer of Justice” medals were presented to: justices Hugo Black, Harold Burton, Tom Clark, Felix Frankfurter, Robert H. Jackson, Sherman Minton and Earl Warren; attorneys Charles Black, Harold Boulware, Robert Carter, Elwood Chisholm, William Coleman, Julian Dugas, Charles Duncan, Jack Greenberg, William H. Hastie, Oliver Hill, Charles Hamilton Houston Sr., Thurgood Marshall, Constance Baker Motley, James Nabrit Jr., David Pinsky, Louis Pollack, Louis Redding, Frank Reeves, Louis G. Robinson and Jack Weinstein; plaintiffs Gardener Bishop, Ethel Belton Brown, Eliza De Laine, Ann Gibson, Barbara Johns, Levi/Viola Pearson, Marie Smith, John Stokes, William Stukes and Linda Todd; social scientists Drs. Kenneth and Mamie Clark and John Hope Franklin; and contemporaries Bill Cosby, Earl Graves Sr. and Augustus Hawkins. Those honored posthumously were represented by their children, spouses or other family members.

“Tonight’s honorees have demonstrated true commitment,” said NAACP President Kweisi Mfume. “They have showed us what is possible. Those of us who live and grow in the light of their legacy have a responsibility to prove worthy of it.”

In a fitting complement, entertainment was provided by gospel artist Yolanda Adams, folk group Sweet Honey in the Rock, tap dancer Savion Glover, harpist Jeff Majors and the Duke Ellington School of the Arts Concert Chorale.

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