Last year (2014) marked the 60th anniversary of the historic decision in "Brown versus the Topeka Board of Education." The Supreme Court ruling held that "separate but equal" facilities were inherently not equal, and therefore... unconstitutional. To commemorate the occasion, the Kansas Humanities Council teamed up with NPR's StoryCorps project to interview area residents and collect their thoughts about growing up in the town whose name became part of the landmark case. In today's installment, we hear Topeka resident Tom Averill speak with Matthew Porubsky (puh-RUBE-skee) about how integration came to a Topeka cemetery in the 1960s.
That's Tom Averill and Matthew Porubsky (puh-RUBE-skee) of Topeka. 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 of these StoryCorps conversations taped in Topeka. This project was a joint effort of 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.