250 to 250:129. Hockessin Colored School 107, Narrated by Senator Chris Coons

Heather Cox Richardson and 250 to 250: Hockessin Colored School 107, Narrated by Senator Chris Coons

Senator Chris Coons of Delaware is an American lawyer and former Chair of the Senate Ethics Committee, who is recognized for his work in legislature and oversight. Coons tells how Shirley Bulah's walk to a segregated school led to a Delaware ruling that helped pave the way for Brown v. Board of Education. 

Shirley Bulah was a Black student in Delaware.

• She walked to a Black school every day.
• School buses took white children to a white school.
• Shirley’s family wanted her to have equal treatment.
• Lawyer Louis Redding helped the family.
• He fought against separate schools for Black and white children.
• In 1952, a Delaware court ruled in favor of Shirley and other Black students.
• The Delaware case later became part of Brown v. Board of Education.
• In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional.
• The decision helped open public schools to students of all races.

POP Interview and Civics Quiz: 

• N-400 Part 9:7. Have you EVER ordered, incited, called for, committed, assisted, helped with, or otherwise participated in intentional harm or suffering to any person becaue of their race, religion, national origin, membership in a particular group, or political opinion?
• 100:84 / 128:112.   What did the civil rights movement do?
• Read: Why do people want to be citizens?  
• Write: Washington was the first U.S. president. 

Family Fun:

• 107c: The One-Room School That Helped Change America
• Avalon: Interview with Louis L. Redding
• Delaware Dept of Ed: From RunaRound to Remedy (or Bulah to Brown) (lesson plan)
• Delaware Hisorical Society: Journey to Freedom: The African American Experience in Delaware | Belton and Bulah VS. Gebhart: The Fight to End School Segregation in DE
• NAAHC: Separate Is Not Equal - Brown v. Board of Education: Shirley Bulah
• NPS: Belton (Bulah) v. Gebhart | Oral History Interview with Shirley Bulah Stamps
• National Trust for the Preservation of Historic Place: How Black Women Changed the Face of Education in America
• VOA Learning English: Brown v. Board of Education Helps Launch Civil Rights Movement
• Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice: The Journey: From Shirley Bulah to Ruby Bridges