June 14, 2004 Vol. 93, No. 29 Archives   Previous   Next Contents Commencement 2004 • Tilghman: With graduation comes a responsibility • Commencement highlights • Four faculty members recognized for their outstanding teaching • By the numbers: Commencement statistics People • Burstein named vice president for administration • Hlafter selected for national architectural honor • University names six new trustees • Appointments • Spotlight, retirements, obituaries • Briefs Faculty • Five new full professors named to the faculty • New associate and assistant professors appointed • Six faculty members transfer to emeritus status • Ikenberry named to endowed chair • Cook chronicles history of the human race • Philander traces transformation of El Niño • Singer joins political debate in book about Bush's ethics Inside • Device sorts microscopic particles with amazing speed and precision • Engineering plan calls for greater focus on societal needs • New library named for Peter B. Lewis • Two seniors awarded fellowships for yearlong public service projects • First students graduate from Princeton Prep • Grants fund research on underwater vehicles, high-tech materials • Book group builds bridges to Princeton community and beyond • ACLU role in Brown case explored Benefits • HR Solution Center aims to provide quick responses • Tuition grant increased for children • Changes made to staff tuition plan Sections • Calendar of events   The Bulletin is published weekly during the academic year, except during University breaks and exam weeks, by the Office of Communications. Second class postage paid at Princeton. Postmaster: Send address changes to Princeton Weekly Bulletin, Office of Communications, Princeton University, 22 Chambers St., Suite 201, Princeton, NJ 08542. Permission is given to adapt, reprint or excerpt material from the Bulletin for use in other media. Subscriptions. The Bulletin is distributed free to faculty, staff and students. Others may subscribe to the Bulletin for $14 for the spring semester of the academic year (half price for current Princeton parents and people over 65). Send a check to Office of Communications, Princeton University, 22 Chambers St., Suite 201, Princeton, NJ 08542. Deadline. In general, the copy deadline for each issue is the Friday 10 days in advance of the Monday cover date. The deadline for the Bulletin that covers June 14-September 5 is Friday, June 4. A complete publication schedule is available at deadlines or by calling (609) 258-3601. Editor: Ruth Stevens Calendar editor: Carolyn Geller Staff writers: Jennifer Greenstein Altmann, Steven Schultz Contributing writers: Patricia Allen, Karin Dienst, Eric Quinones Photographer: Denise Applewhite Design: Mahlon Lovett, Laurel Masten Cantor, Margaret Westergaard Web edition: Mahlon Lovett

ACLU role in Brown case explored

 

Princeton NJ -- An exhibition at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library highlights the key role of the American Civil Liberties Union in the U.S. Supreme Court's historic Brown v. Board of Education decision. Several important documents from the case are on display in the lobby of the Mudd Library through Friday, Oct. 15.

On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kan. The decision struck down precedent established nearly six decades earlier in Plessy v. Ferguson, which had opened the door to state-sanctioned racial discrimination across the nation.

In the 1896 case of Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme Court concluded that a Louisiana law requiring whites and blacks to ride in separate railroad cars did not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, giving birth to the concept of "separate but equal" facilities. The ACLU supported the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in its challenge of "separate but equal" and filed an amicus brief. The ACLU also solicited support of its brief from many religious organizations and a select group of progressive Southern lawyers.

On display at Mudd Library is an annotated copy of the request sent out by ACLU president Arthur Garfield Hays on Nov. 12, 1952. Also on view is a letter written by Thurgood Marshall that acknowledges the role of the ACLU in the case. Marshall served as chief attorney for the NAACP from 1940 to 1961 and later became the first African-American Supreme Court justice.

The Mudd Library is the official repository for the archives of the ACLU.

 

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