Atlanta History Museum

At the Atlanta History Museum, we learned the story of desegregation of schools, we explored the history of the civil war, we toured an old Atlanta home, and we watched a blacksmith make a hook. It was all pretty cool. Here's what we learned: Brown v. Board of Education was actually a group of cases brought to the Supreme Court about desegregating schools. One of the cases was Briggs v. Elliott. The case began in 1947 to get bus transportation for black students. In addition to having separate and inferior schools, black children had to walk to school while white children rode buses. The white school superintendent said black citizens did not pay enough taxes to support a bus. So, in 1949 the NAACP agreed to provide funding and sponsor a case that would go beyond transportation and ask for equal educational opportunities in Clarendon County. Rev. DeLaine and Modjeska Monteith Simkins started a petition. Harry Briggs, a service station attendant, and his wife, Eliza Briggs, who worked as a maid, were the first to sign. Joseph Armstrong DeLaine also signed. Eventually, more than 100 Clarendon residents signed the petition. This case and others were combined with the Brown v. Board of Education case,the landmark case desegregating schools.

Here is a photo of the display that compared white schools and black schools in Clarendon Couhty.