Monroe Elementary School, 1515 Monroe Street, Topeka, Shawnee County, KS

Significance: The Monroe School is one of two elementary schools in Topeka that is associated with the Supreme Court's 1954 landmark decision in Oliver Brown et al v. The Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. The Brown decision overturned the authority of the Plessy v. Ferguson case (1896), which provided a legal justification for segregation with its famous doctrine of "separate but equal." Many have also argued that the Brown decision was the impetus behind the modern Civil Rights Movement because it gave blacks a legal framework to begin challenging the structure of institutional discrimination.

Monroe Elementary School was designed by Thomas Williamson, a local architect. Williamson was extremely prolific, producing hundreds of buildings in Topeka and throughout the state from 1912 to the 1960s. He is best known in this area for his design of Topeka High School. Although vacant today, the Monroe School stands as an icon of African-American organizational abilities and of community activity; it is a reminder of the premium that black citizens have long put on education; and it is a testament to the racial climate of Topeka which stands in contrast to those communities of the Jim Crow South that were also a part of the Brown decision.
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N75
Survey number: HABS KS-67
Building/structure dates: 1926 Initial Construction
National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 87001283