Webb v. School District No. 90
*On this date in 1949, Webb v. School District No. 90 was decided. This Supreme Court case involved 39 Black students fighting for educational rights.
Background Population growth after World War II prompted the construction of a new $90,000—South Park Elementary School near Merriam, Kansas. The district school board had unlawfully established Walker School for Black children. The school was inferior compared to other schools, outdated, and dilapidated. The Black children were denied admittance to South Park School solely based on race and color. Responding, the Walker parents, led by Alfonso and Mary Webb, hired a lawyer and formed a South Park branch of the NAACP.
One of its charter members was Walker's very own teacher, Corinthian Nutter. Webb and other parents took thirty-nine children out of the poorly maintained, ninety-year-old Walker school, hired Walker teacher Nutter, and opened a home school. Willingly risking further employment in the public schools, Nutter taught these children for over a year.
African American parents found a staunch ally in Esther Brown, who supported and assisted them in their case. Attorney Elijah Scott took the lead in bringing about the Webb case through her urging. After the Kansas Supreme Court 1949 ruled that equal facilities must be provided for all children, the board admitted Black children to South Park School. The issue of segregation per se was not part of the ruling as facilities were so clearly unequal.
