Past Initiatives

Brown v Board of Education - Context and Legacy

A Maryland Humanities Council Special Initiative

May 17, 2004 marked the 50th anniversary of the unanimous Supreme Court decision in Brown v Board of Education, which outlawed segregation in public education. In commemoration, the Maryland Humanities Council launched the special Initiative, Brown v Board of Education - Context and Legacy. MHC partnered with nearly 40 cultural, historical, educational, legal and community organizations from all over Maryland.

Initiative highlights included an expanded Speakers Bureau, a magazine exploring Brown and the Civil Rights movement in Maryland, a student essay contest, Brown-related grants, a traveling exhibition based on oral history interviews about desegregation in Frederick County in central Maryland, broadcasts on Maryland Public Television, lectures and a curriculum guide developed by Prince George's Community College, and radio programs.

With the Brown v Board Special Initiative - its first - the Maryland Humanities Council reached almost 400,000 people in Maryland.