(April 13, 2004) Topeka, KS—May 2004 marks the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Brown v Board of Education of Topeka, abolishing segregated schools in America. To commemorate this historical event the Kansas Bar Association has created a free video, "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka: The Case of the Century," for all Kansas educators.
The 70-minute video features a re-enactment of the 1952 and 1953 oral arguments presented to the U. S. Supreme Court. The historic figures in the case are portrayed by the following members of the Kansas Bar Association:
Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson is portrayed by Kansas District Judge Fred Jackson (Ret.); Attorney Robert L. Carter is portrayed by Reggie Robinson, president of the Kansas Board of Regents; Justice Stanley F. Reed is portrayed by Richard Ross, Kansas Appellate Courts Reporter of Decisions; Justice Harold H. Burton is portrayed by Randy Hearrell, executive director of the Kansas Judicial Council; Justice Felix Frankfurter is portrayed by Judge Richard Greene, Kansas Court of Appeals; Justice William O. Douglas is portrayed by Justice Robert Gernon, Supreme Court of Kansas; Assistant Kansas Attorney General Paul E. Wilson is portrayed by Scott Raymond, attorney, Kansas Court of Appeals; Attorney Thurgood Marshall is portrayed by Deryl Wynn, attorney, McAnany, Van Cleave & Phillips PA; Attorney John W. Davis is portrayed by Justice Fred Six, Supreme Court of Kansas (Ret.); Justice Robert H. Jackson is portrayed by Judge Patrick McAnany, Kansas Court of Appeals; Chief Justice Earl Warren is portrayed by Kansas District Judge James Macnish; Attorney Spotswood Robinson III is portrayed by Judge Henry Green, Kansas Court of Appeals; and U. S. Assistant Attorney General J. Lee Rankin is portrayed by Prof. James Concannon, Washburn University School of Law. The Honorable Julie A. Robinson, U.S. District Judge, Topeka, Kans., serves as narrator.
Copies of "The Case of the Century" will be available at no cost to interested Kansas educators. To order a copy of the video and accompanying teacher materials, contact Btissam Touijer, public services director of the Kansas Bar Association, at 785-234-5696 or at btouijer@ksbar.org.
The video will also run continuously during a panel display entitled "Equal Education: The Fight, The Right," commemorating this momentous decision and celebrating the grand opening of the Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Site on May 17. The exhibit runs May 1-30, 2004, in the Special Exhibits Gallery of the Kansas History Center and Museum, located at 6425 SW Sixth Ave. in Topeka.
About the Kansas Bar Association
The Kansas Bar Association, located in Topeka, Kans., was
founded in 1882 as a voluntary association for dedicated
legal professionals and has approximately 6,200 members,
including lawyers, judges, law students, and legal assistants.
The KBA is dedicated to advancing the professionalism and
legal skills of lawyers, promoting the interests of the
legal profession, providing services to its members, advocating
positions on law-related issues, encouraging public understanding
of the law, and promoting the effective administration of
our system of justice.
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