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StoryCorps: Legacy of Brown v. Board in Topeka (Patrick Woods and Richard Ridley)

Richard Ridley (left) talks with Patrick Woods about what it was like growing up in Topeka before and after the Brown v. Board of Education case in 1954.
Richard Ridley (left) talks with Patrick Woods about what it was like growing up in Topeka before and after the Brown v. Board of Education case in 1954.

2014 marked the 60th anniversary of the historic Supreme Court decision in "Brown versus the Topeka Board of Education" - the ruling that led to school desegregation. To mark the anniversary, the Kansas Humanities Council sponsored a local StoryCorps project, in which area residents were interviewed about growing up in pre-Brown Topeka. Kansas Public Radio is presenting some of these stories during Black History Month and beyond. Topeka resident Richard Ridley experienced school life both before and after integration. His elementary school was segregated. His junior and senior high schools were not. In this installment of StoryCorps, we hear Richard Ridley interviewed by his friend from church, Patrick Woods.


That’s Richard Ridley being interviewed by his friend, Patrick Woods. They took part in a StoryCorps project last year, marking the 60th anniversary of Brown v. Board. During Black History Month and beyond, KPR will be sharing several StoryCorps conversations taped in Topeka. The project was sponsored by the Kansas Humanities Council, the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library and the Brown v. Board National Historic Site.

Click HERE to listen to the StoryCorps pieces that have aired so far.