This episode of History In A Nutshell sheds light on the Briggs v. Elliott court case, in honor of the 70th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision! The Briggs v. Elliott case was the first in U.S. history to challenge segregation in public education, and the first of five cases which eventually were consolidated into Brown v. Board of Education.
In 1940's Clarendon County, South Carolina, African American parents sued Clarendon's School District 26, led by Chairman Roderick Elliott, for bus transportation. Lack of proper bus transportation was just one of many issues African American citizens faced in the Jim Crow south. Reverend Joseph Armstrong "J.A." DeLaine represented the people of Clarendon County, and led the charge in drafting a petition to fight for better school facilities. Plaintiffs Harry and Eliza Briggs were among the first to sign this petition. The Briggs v. Elliott case alleged that the segregated school system in their county violated the Constitution's 14th Amendment by providing unequal educational facilities and transportation for Black students compared to White students.
With the aid of the NAACP and attorneys Harold R. Boulware, Sr. and Thurgood Marshall, the case was brought before federal court in Charleston, South Carolina. The three-judge panel reached a majority decision on June 23, 1951: although work would be done to equalize school facilities for African Americans, the plaintiffs' request for school desegregation was denied. The "separate but equal" doctrine from Plessy v. Ferguson was upheld in the decision.
Briggs v. Elliott was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, and then combined with four other cases challenging segregation in education. This new case became Brown v. Board of Education. Although segregation in education was ruled unconstitutional on May 17, 1954, Black citizens faced fierce resistance from southern states which wanted to preserve segregation. Schools in South Carolina did not fully desegregate until 1970 due to pressure from the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the U.S. Department of Justice.
Although Briggs v. Elliott is largely overshadowed by Brown v. Board, credit goes to the families in Clarendon County for taking that bold first step to challenge segregation in education.
