The attorneys in Brown v. Board of Education split into two camps: Thurgood Marshall led the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund team representing the plaintiff schoolchildren, and John W. Davis led the defense of segregation for the state of South Carolina. Because the ruling combined five local challenges from Kansas, South Carolina, Virginia, the District of Columbia, and Delaware, the full roster of counsel is longer than the two lead names suggest.1National Archives. Documented Rights – Section 5
The NAACP Legal Defense Fund Team
Thurgood Marshall was lead counsel for the plaintiffs and oversaw the coordinated effort to strike down the “separate but equal” doctrine.2National Archives. Biographies of the Counsel3National Archives. Civil Rights Queen: Constance Baker Motley
- Robert L. Carter represented plaintiffs in the South Carolina case and helped bring in social scientists to support the argument.
- Jack Greenberg argued for plaintiffs in the Kansas case and worked on the briefs for the Delaware litigation.
- Constance Baker Motley was part of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund team and helped argue the case before the Court.
- James Nabrit Jr. worked with parents challenging segregation in the District of Columbia.
- George E.C. Hayes argued the case for the petitioners in the District of Columbia litigation.
The core argument focused on the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment: that state laws requiring segregated schools were themselves unconstitutional.1National Archives. Documented Rights – Section 54Delaware Public Archives. Brown v. Board of Education The District of Columbia case was the exception. Because D.C. is not a state, the 14th Amendment did not reach it, and the Supreme Court issued a separate opinion resting on the 5th Amendment.2National Archives. Biographies of the Counsel
Local Attorneys Who Handled the Underlying Cases
Before the appeals reached Washington, local counsel handled the trials in each jurisdiction. In Virginia, Spottswood Robinson III and Oliver Hill led the challenge in Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County.2National Archives. Biographies of the Counsel
Louis L. Redding managed the Delaware cases, Belton v. Gebhart and Bulah v. Gebhart, filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery in 1951.4Delaware Public Archives. Brown v. Board of Education5Delaware General Assembly. House Concurrent Resolution 25
In Kansas, Charles Scott and John Scott filed the local suit for Oliver Brown and other Topeka families, and that case eventually gave the consolidated decision its name.2National Archives. Biographies of the Counsel
Attorneys for the School Boards and States
John W. Davis was lead counsel for South Carolina in Briggs v. Elliott, defending the state’s segregated system and the “separate but equal” doctrine.2National Archives. Biographies of the Counsel Other state and school board attorneys joined the defense in the remaining cases, arguing that their schools met the required legal standards and that authority over education belonged to state and local governments.