It was a cold snowy day in Kansas, and Linda Brown was cold as she walked home from her all-black school. Her route back home from the school bus stop was long. She got off the bus, crossed the railroad tracks, and even passed the all white Sumner Elementary school on her way home. Linda wished she could go to that school, which was only four blocks from her house, but she was not allowed to go there because of the color of her skin.

When Linda was finally home, her dad came to greet her at the door. “Hello Linda, how was school today?” he asked. “The same as any other day.” Linda said with a sigh. She was still thinking about how nice it would be to go to Sumner Elementary. Even though the people in charge said that separate was equal, Linda knew it wasn’t.

Her school was run down, and all her textbooks were old ones from the all white Elementary. Her school was much smaller, and much too far away from her house. All of this made Linda feel like she wasn’t as good as the white people. This made her dad feel bad for Linda.

This wasn’t just something Linda felt. Many other African American children felt less important than the white children. Linda’s dad decided that it was time that African Americans and Whites all go to the same school, and are treated equally.

He met with 12 other families, with children just like Linda. All of them African American and determined to become equal to the white people. They decided to try to put their children into the all white school, which was much better than the children's’ current school. However, the all white school told them they could not join, and this made them angry.

So angry, that the parents decided to take the issue to court. After losing their first case in the Kansas district court, they had eventually made it all the way to the supreme court. This was exciting, but also very scary for Linda and her family. Would their long journey through the court system pay off?