Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 106 Part 4.djvu/702

 106 STAT. 3438 PUBLIC LAW 102-525 —OCT. 26, 1992 Public Law 102-525 102d Congress An Act Oct. 26, 1992 To provide for the establishment of the Brown v. Board of Education National [S. 2890] Historic Site in the State of Kansas, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of Civil rights. the United States of America in Congress assembled, 16 USC 461 note. TITLE I —BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE SEC. 101. DEFINITIONS. As used in this title— (1) the term "Secretary" means the Secretary of the Interior. (2) The term "historic site" means the Brown v. Board of Education Nationed Historic Site as established in section 103. SEC. 102. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. (a) FINDINGS. —The Congress finds as follows: (1) The Supreme Court, in 1954, ruled that the earlier 1896 Supreme Court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson that permitted segregation of races in elementary schools violated the fourteenth amendment to the United States Constitution, which guarantees all citizens equal protection under the law. (2) In the 1954 proceedings, Oliver Brown and twelve other plaintiffs successfully challenged an 1879 Kansas law that had been patterned after the law in question in Plessy v. Ferguson after the Topeka, Kansas, Board of Education refused to enroll Mr. Brown's daughter, Linda. (3) Sumner Elementary, the all-white school that refused to enroll Linda Brown, and Monroe Elementary, the segregated school she was forced to attend, have subsequently been designated National Historic Landmarks in recognition of their national significance. (4) Sumner Elementary, an active school, is administered by the Topeka Board of Education; Monroe Elementary, closed in 1975 due to declining enrollment, is privately owned and stands vacant. (b) PURPOSES. —The purposes of this title are— (1) to preserve, protect, and interpret for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations, the places that contributed materially to the landmark United States Supreme Court decision that brought an end to segregation in public education; and (2) to interpret the integral role of the Brown v. Board of Education case in the civil rights movement. (3) to assist in the preservation and interpretation of related resources within the city of Topeka that further the understanding of the civil rights movement.

�