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In his reply to Topekan attorney Charles Bledsoe, NAACP legal counsel Robert L. Carter outlined his initial thoughts on strategies and approaches to the case. Two of Carter's main points were that the Topeka NAACP should recruit "as many plaintiffs and their parents from various grades from the lowest to the highest," and that the case be tried in a three-judge court in order to "by-pass the U.S. Court of Appeals and go directly into the U.S. Supreme Court." The letter from Charles Bledsoe prompting this reply is Kansas Memory item #213409.
Date: September 18, 1950
The letter from Carter to Bledsoe is an important document that details the beginnings of the Brown case and the NAACP's strategy to get the case to the U.S. Supreme Court as quickly as possible. Therefore, Carter's letter can be used to help students understand that the NAACP viewed the situation in Topeka as something capable of setting a national precedent with regard to segregated schools in America. This letter can be used in conjunction with Charles Bledsoe's letter to the NAACP (#213409) which helped initiate the legal discussions that resulted in the Brown case.
KS: 11th: 3.1.: Brown v. Board (2005)
Item Number: 213410
Call Number: Lucinda Wilson Todd Coll. #825
KSHS Identifier: DaRT ID: 213410
Collections - Manuscript - Todd, Lucinda Wilson
Community Life - Clubs and organizations - Reform/Advocacy - National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
Curriculum - 11th Grade Standards - Kansas History Standards - 1945-1990 (Kansas_Benchmark 3) - Brown v. Board (Indicator 1) - Kansas' lead role in the Supreme Court case
Curriculum - 11th Grade Standards - Kansas History Standards - 1945-1990 (Kansas_Benchmark 3) - Brown v. Board (Indicator 1) - Segregated schools
Date - 1950s - 1950
Education - Segregation and desegregation - Brown v. Board
Government and Politics - Federal Government - Courts - United States Supreme Court
Government and Politics - Reform and Protest - Civil rights - National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
Objects and Artifacts - Communication Artifacts - Documentary Artifact - Letter
People - African Americans - Discrimination - Segregation
People - Notable People - Carter, Robert Lee, 1917-
Places - Cities and towns - Topeka
Places - Counties - Shawnee
Places - Other States - New York
Thematic Time Period - Eisenhower Years, 1946 - 1961 - Civil Rights Movement
Type of Material - Unpublished documents - Letters
http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/213410