Tiggersmommy's Blog

Zelma Henderson died Tuesday in Topeka, at the age of 88. She is remembered by her son, Donald Henderson, as "a great mom... who didn't seek out a place in history but stepped forward and did something extraordinary when asked."

Mrs. Zelma Henderson was the last surviving member of the original 13 plaintiff's in Topeka's Brown VS. Board of Education, instrumental in the historic Supreme Court ruling on May 17, 1954 outlawing segregation in the public school system.

This mother of two worked tirelessly after signing the litigation on behalf of her children in 1950 after seeing her children would have to walk 10 extra blocks away from the closest school which happened to be an all white school.

In interviews, she said it wasn't the quality of education that bothered her, the teachers in black schools were excellent, but black and white children needed to have the opportunity to play together and to understand one another. "The little children, when they began going to the integrated schools, they got to know one another as just little children and not black and white," she said in a 2001 newspaper interview.

Mrs. Henderson told the AP in a 2004 interview, "I wanted my children to know all races like I did." "It means a lot to a person's outlook on life. No inferiority complex at all, that's what I wanted for my children as far as race was concerned."

The site of Brown VS. Board of Education, Monroe School, is now a national historic site and is operated by the National Park Service.

Hi everyone!
I am new at this so forgive any faux paus please and bear with me ;)
I am a 30 something Mom in Alamance Co. I am a passionate Home Schooler of the Christian faith with strong held beliefs on this issue but I will/do not force my thoughts or ideas on anyone - so no flaming please ;) I am a deeply rooted Wolfpack fan who comes from a long line of Wolfpack alumni and fans. Go Pack!! I also love the WGHP Fox 8 website. I have been a chatter for a while but am now turning my hand to the blogs - so many people to meet, so many opinions to hear out, so little time. I hope in the coming weeks to add more, but I did want to introduce myself.
CYA