Brown, Linda (1943–)

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Brown, Linda (1943–)

African-American civil rights activist. Name variations: Linda Brown Thompson. Born 1943 in Topeka, Kansas; dau. of Reverend Oliver Brown.

As a 4th-grade student at a black elementary school in Topeka, weary of the long walk and bus ride from her home to school each day, applied to attend a nearby public elementary school for white children (1951); was denied access; her father sued the Topeka Board of Education, and the eventual Supreme Court case, Brown v. Board of Education, destroyed the legal basis for racial segregation in public schools.

See also Women in World History.

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