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Brown@50
Fulfilling the Promise

Howard University School of Law

HUSL-Yale Brown@50 Joint Conference

The Legacy of Brown v. Board of Education
Reflections on the Last Fifty Years
1954-2004

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Annotated Chronology for Brown v. Board of Education

This chronology includes many items of general importance in the long march to equality, but it is not intended to be complete. The first item fairly closely related to Brown is a 1849 Massachusetts case in which the Massachusetts Supreme Court stated that separate but equal was permissible. The Massachusetts legislature overturned that decision six years later. Entries become more closely related to Brown with Plessy in 1896 band with many events following the Brown decision in 1954.

With respect to 20th and 21st century events, this particular chronology emphasizes law, and most particularly cases. Most of the cases noted in the 20th and 21st century are either important antecedent cases showing the development of the ideas leading to Brown or are important cases which show the evolution of and application of principles after Brown like the idea of affirmative action.

We are in the process of updating and annotating the chronology to make it a more valuable resource for students and researchers. This chronology builds on the work of many others, of course, as will be noted by the links to various authorities. The compilation of this timeline is primarily the work of Prof. Steven D. Jamar, and HUSL librarians Tracey Woodward and EIleen Santos. Many others have made helpful suggestions as well.

Date	Event
1501	Spain approves the importation of Africans to be enslaved in the Western Hemisphere (authority)
1502	First African slaves arrive in the Western Hemisphere on a cargo ship from Portugal (authority)
1522	African slaves revolt for the first time on a sugar mill in the Dominican Republic (authority)
1562	England enters the slave trade -- Sir John Hawkins of Engladn imports 300 slaves to Brazil (authority)