SCHOOL DESEGREGATION | Anniversary events

"50 Years of Brown vs. Board: Where Do We Go From Here?" is the theme for several events planned by the Brown vs. Board of Education 50th Anniversary Commemoration Committee to mark the golden anniversary of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision, which outlawed racial segregation in public schools. The Supreme Court made its decision May 17, 1954.
Through May 1: Pupils in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties are participating in a variety of educational activities and contests centered on the theme to teach them about the decision's implications. Pupil winners will be recognized in ceremonies May 1 in the Chestnut Room of Kilcawley Center at Youngstown State University.
March 26, April 9 and April 30: A series of films about the ruling will be shown on these Fridays in the McKay Auditorium of the Beeghly College of Education at YSU. The times, dates and titles of the films are March 26, "Road to Brown," 1 p.m., a documentary; April 9, "The Ernest Green Story," 1 p.m., a drama about Green, the first black student to graduate from Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas after the turbulence faced by nine black students there in 1957; April 30, "The Intolerable Burden," 1 p.m., and "Separate but Equal," 6:30 p.m. "The Intolerable Burden" is a documentary about the Carter family of Drew, Miss., and the decision to send their children to formerly all-white schools under a 1964 "freedom-of-choice" plan. "Separate but Equal" is a drama starring Sidney Poitier and Burt Lancaster, focusing on the role of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in building a case to defeat school segregation.
April 13: A panel of YSU faculty members from various disciplines and public school administrators will discuss the decision from 7 to 9 p.m. in McKay Auditorium. This panel also will address the question of whether it is relevant in dealing with issues of race in education today.
April 16: Retired Federal Judge Nathaniel Jones of Cincinnati, a native of Youngstown and a YSU graduate, will give a keynote address at 2 p.m. on the theme in McKay Auditorium. Judge Jones also will speak at 11 a.m. that day in the political science class of Dr. Paul Sracic, associate professor of political science and pre-law adviser at YSU.
May 1: A Brown vs. Board of Education Oratorical Presentation and a black history quiz bowl will be from 2 to 5:30 p.m. in McKay Auditorium. The oratorical segment of the program is open to pupils from all schools in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties. Only Youngstown City School pupils will participate in the quiz bowl. A drama, "Make It Right," which depicts the effects of the decision, and an awards presentation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Chestnut Room of Kilcawley Center.
Sponsors: YSU Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity, YSU Provost's Office, YSU Beeghly College of Education, YSU College of Arts and Sciences, Youngstown City Schools, Boardman Local Schools, LaBrae Teachers Association, Trumbull Career and Technical Center.
More information: Call Leon Stennis, YSU coordinator of diversity initiatives, at (330) 941-2718.
Source: YSU Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity