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Brown v. Board of Education - Quiz
Contributed by: Handley
  • 1. What was the title of the memo written by William Rehnquist in 1952?
A) The Brown Decision and its Consequences
B) A Defense of the Fourteenth Amendment
C) A Random Thought on the Segregation Cases
D) Legal Principles of Desegregation
  • 2. In his 1952 memo, which case did Rehnquist argue was right and should be reaffirmed?
A) Missouri v. Jenkins
B) Dred Scott v. Sandford
C) Hirabayashi v. United States
D) Plessy v. Ferguson
  • 3. At his 1971 confirmation hearings, to whom did Rehnquist attribute the authorship of his 1952 memo?
A) Felix Frankfurter
B) Himself
C) Justice Jackson
D) Earl Warren
  • 4. Who criticized Chief Justice Warren for assuming the role of a third legislative chamber?
A) Raoul Berger
B) Learned Hand
C) Michael W. McConnell
D) Herbert Wechsler
  • 5. In Missouri v. Jenkins, what did Justice Clarence Thomas argue about Brown I?
A) It has been misunderstood by the courts.
B) It relied too heavily on originalism.
C) It should be overturned.
D) It was decided incorrectly.
  • 6. According to Clarence Thomas, what kind of segregation was the harm in Brown I tied to?
A) De facto segregation
B) De jure segregation
C) Social segregation
D) Economic segregation
  • 7. Which author argued that the Fourteenth Amendment cannot be defended by the original understanding of its framers?
A) Michael W. McConnell
B) Drew S. Days III
C) Philip Elman
D) Raoul Berger
  • 8. What evidence did Raoul Berger cite to argue that the Fourteenth Amendment permitted segregated schools?
A) The 1875 Civil Rights Act banned segregation.
B) Congress voted to segregate schools in DC during the same period.
C) State constitutions explicitly demanded segregation.
D) The Supreme Court had already ruled segregation legal.
  • 9. What argument did Michael W. McConnell make regarding the Fourteenth Amendment?
A) The framers explicitly ignored school segregation.
B) The Amendment was intended to be colorblind.
C) Radical Reconstructionists were in favor of desegregated southern schools.
D) The Amendment was never intended to apply to education.
  • 10. According to Drew S. Days III, why was reliance on psychological criteria in Brown unnecessary?
A) Psychological data was flawed and outdated.
B) Racial classifications are odious to a free people by nature.
C) Social science is not a proper basis for legal rulings.
D) The Constitution explicitly forbids segregated schools.
  • 11. Who claimed in 1987 that he and Justice Frankfurter were mostly responsible for the Brown decision?
A) Drew S. Days III
B) Earl Warren
C) Philip Elman
D) William Rehnquist
  • 12. According to Thomas Sowell, what school was a living refutation of the claim that racially separate schools were inherently unequal?
A) Dunbar High School
B) Howard University
C) Central High School
D) The Washington District School
  • 13. What did Rehnquist argue in his 1952 memo regarding the determination of minority rights?
A) The Supreme Court is the ultimate protector of minority rights.
B) The majority determines what the rights of minorities are.
C) Rights are fixed and cannot be changed by the majority.
D) Minorities must fight for their own rights.
  • 14. How did Rehnquist characterize his 1952 memo during his 1986 hearings?
A) It was not an accurate reflection of his views at the time.
B) It was a mistake of youth.
C) It was a formal legal opinion for the Court.
D) It was a satirical piece.
  • 15. What was Herbert Wechsler's critique of the Brown decision?
A) It focused too much on the Fourteenth Amendment.
B) It lacked sufficient historical evidence.
C) It was overly political.
D) It was impossible to justify based on neutral principles.
  • 16. Which Texas official organized a campaign to create legal obstacles to desegregation?
A) John Ben Shepperd
B) George Wallace
C) LeRoy Collins
D) Orval Faubus
  • 17. Who was the Arkansas governor who blocked the Little Rock Nine from entering Central High School?
A) Orval Faubus
B) John Ben Shepperd
C) J. Lindsay Almond
D) Thomas Stanley
  • 18. Which military unit did President Eisenhower deploy to Little Rock to ensure the safety of black students?
A) Alabama National Guard
B) 82nd Airborne Division
C) Arkansas National Guard
D) 101st Airborne Division
  • 19. What did Florida's legislature pass to denounce the Brown decision?
A) Education Amendment
B) Interposition Resolution
C) Massive Resistance Act
D) Civil Rights Act
  • 20. Why did Florida Governor LeRoy Collins refuse to sign the Interposition Resolution?
A) He argued efforts should be made through legal methods.
B) He was ordered by the President not to sign.
C) He believed the resolution was too lenient.
D) He was a staunch integrationist.
  • 21. In what year was Byron De La Beckwith finally convicted of murdering Medgar Evers?
A) 1994
B) 1957
C) 1971
D) 1963
  • 22. Who assisted tribal leaders in resolving the bus segregation issue?
A) George Wallace
B) Harry F. Byrd
C) Martin Luther King Jr.
D) John F. Kennedy
  • 23. What city was the first in the South to announce its intent to comply with the Brown decision?
A) Arlington, Virginia
B) Little Rock, Arkansas
C) Jackson, Mississippi
D) Greensboro, North Carolina
  • 24. Who chaired the Greensboro school board and pushed for the initial compliance announcement?
A) D. E. Hudgins Jr.
B) J. Lindsay Almond
C) Thomas Stanley
D) Garland Gray
  • 25. What was the name of the movement led by Senator Harry F. Byrd to resist desegregation in Virginia?
A) The Gray Commission
B) The Southern Manifesto
C) Massive Resistance
D) The Compliance Initiative
  • 26. Which Virginia county chose to close all its public schools rather than desegregate?
A) Arlington County
B) Prince Edward County
C) Norfolk
D) Charlottesville
  • 27. What phrase did white Southerners use to describe the day of the Brown decision?
A) A day of liberation
B) A Black Monday
C) A peaceful transition
D) A victory for equality
  • 28. To what historical event did white Southerners compare the impact of the Brown decision?
A) The Boston Tea Party
B) Pearl Harbor
C) The Louisiana Purchase
D) The signing of the Declaration of Independence
  • 29. What did Southerners prioritize while creating systems of integrated schools?
A) Student achievement scores
B) Qualified teaching staff
C) Resource equality
D) White leadership
  • 30. According to historian Michael Fultz, what did the South do faster than desegregating schools?
A) Improving school busing
B) Providing free textbooks
C) Building new schools
D) Displacing Black educators
  • 31. In what year did the Supreme Court first hear the case of Brown v. Board of Education?
A) 1952
B) 1954
C) 1950
D) 1953
  • 32. Who was appointed Chief Justice after the death of Fred M. Vinson?
A) Hugo Black
B) Felix Frankfurter
C) Earl Warren
D) Robert H. Jackson
  • 33. What was the final vote count of the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education?
A) 7-2
B) 9-0
C) 5-4
D) 8-1
  • 34. Which Justice was the last holdout before finally agreeing to the unanimous decision?
A) Harold Hitz Burton
B) Stanley F. Reed
C) Tom C. Clark
D) Sherman Minton
  • 35. In what year was the final Supreme Court decision issued?
A) 1955
B) 1952
C) 1953
D) 1954
  • 36. Who wrote the opinion for the three-judge District Court panel?
A) James P. McGranery
B) Thurgood Marshall
C) Paul Wilson
D) Walter Huxman
  • 37. How many cases were combined into the Brown v. Board of Education case heard by the Supreme Court?
A) Five
B) Seven
C) Ten
D) Three
  • 38. Who organized the 450-student walkout at Moton High School?
A) Thurgood Marshall
B) Paul Wilson
C) Walter Reuther
D) Barbara Rose Johns
  • 39. Which organization sponsored all five cases combined into the Supreme Court hearing?
A) United Auto Workers
B) American Civil Liberties Union
C) Department of Justice
D) NAACP
  • 40. How much money did the United Auto Workers donate to the NAACP's efforts?
A) $75,000
B) $100,000
C) $25,000
D) $50,000
  • 41. Who served as the chief counsel for the plaintiffs before the Supreme Court?
A) James P. McGranery
B) Thurgood Marshall
C) Walter Huxman
D) Paul Wilson
  • 42. Who conducted the state's defense in the Brown case?
A) Paul Wilson
B) Dean Acheson
C) Thurgood Marshall
D) Walter Reuther
  • 43. What kind of brief did the Justice Department file in December 1952?
A) Writ of certiorari
B) Stare decisis
C) Amicus curiae
D) Habeas corpus
  • 44. The Justice Department brief emphasized that segregation hurt the United States in what geopolitical context?
A) Colonial expansion
B) World War I
C) The Great Depression
D) The Cold War
  • 45. Who stated that racial discrimination provided material for Communist propaganda?
A) Anthony Lester
B) James P. McGranery
C) Dean Acheson
D) Walter Reuther
  • 46. Which Secretary of State lamented that the U.S. was under attack in the foreign press due to discrimination?
A) James P. McGranery
B) Paul Wilson
C) Dean Acheson
D) Walter Huxman
  • 47. In what year was Thurgood Marshall appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court?
A) 1960
B) 1952
C) 1967
D) 1954
  • 48. In what year was the class-action lawsuit filed against the Topeka Board of Education?
A) 1949
B) 1951
C) 1954
D) 1955
  • 49. How many Topeka parents were plaintiffs in the lawsuit?
A) Thirteen
B) Fifty
C) Twenty
D) Ten
  • 50. Who was the only student plaintiff to testify about the challenges of reaching her school?
A) Zelma Henderson
B) Katherine Carper Sawyer
C) Vivian Scales
D) Linda Carol Brown
  • 51. What was Oliver Brown's occupation?
A) Teacher
B) Welder
C) Lawyer
D) Pastor
  • 52. Which elementary school did Linda Carol Brown attend?
A) Monroe Elementary
B) Buchanan Elementary
C) Capper Elementary
D) Sumner Elementary
  • 53. Who was the last surviving plaintiff of the lawsuit?
A) Oliver Brown
B) Lucinda Todd
C) Zelma Henderson
D) Lena Carper
  • 54. Which school was described as the white school seven blocks from Linda Brown's house?
A) Buchanan Elementary
B) Topeka High
C) Sumner Elementary
D) Monroe Elementary
  • 55. Who was the chairman of the Topeka NAACP?
A) Oliver Brown
B) Lucinda Todd
C) McKinley Burnett
D) Charles Scott
  • 56. How far away was Monroe Elementary from Linda Brown's house?
A) 1 mile
B) 2 miles
C) 7 blocks
D) 6 blocks
  • 57. In what city and state was the lawsuit filed?
A) Wichita, Kansas
B) Topeka, Oklahoma
C) Topeka, Missouri
D) Topeka, Kansas
  • 58. What was Oliver Brown's role in his local church?
A) Deacon
B) Sunday school teacher
C) Assistant pastor
D) Lead pastor
  • 59. Who convinced Oliver Brown to join the lawsuit?
A) Linda Brown
B) Charles Scott
C) McKinley Burnett
D) Lucinda Todd
  • 60. Which amendment did the Supreme Court rule was violated by racial segregation in schools?
A) Fifth Amendment
B) First Amendment
C) Thirteenth Amendment
D) Fourteenth Amendment
  • 61. What was the vote count in the Supreme Court's decision for Brown v. Board of Education?
A) 5–4
B) 8–1
C) 9–0
D) 7–2
  • 62. What phrase did the Court use in Brown II (1955) to describe the timeline for desegregation?
A) With all deliberate speed
B) As soon as possible
C) Within one year
D) Immediately
  • 63. Which scholar wrote 'An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy'?
A) Thurgood Marshall
B) Harry F. Byrd
C) Gunnar Myrdal
D) Earl Warren
  • 64. Which international organization produced the 1950 statement titled 'The Race Question'?
A) UNESCO
B) The Cold War Council
C) The United Nations
D) The World Court
  • 65. Which justice traveled to India and noted that racism harmed America's international image?
A) Earl Warren
B) Thurgood Marshall
C) Gunnar Myrdal
D) William O. Douglas
  • 66. Who was an African-American parent activist in New York who utilized Brown's principles?
A) Thurgood Marshall
B) McKinley Burnett
C) Zelma Henderson
D) Mae Mallory
  • 67. In what year did the school boycott take place in New York?
A) 1959
B) 1953
C) 1956
D) 1941
  • 68. Since what year had junior high schools been integrated in Topeka?
A) 1953
B) 1941
C) 1871
D) 1949
  • 69. When was Topeka High School first integrated?
A) 1871
B) 1941
C) 1953
D) 1949
  • 70. What did Topeka elementary schools become in January 1956?
A) Integrated high schools
B) Neighborhood attendance centers
C) Private religious schools
D) Junior high schools
  • 71. In what year was Monroe Elementary redesignated as a National Historical Park?
A) 2022
B) 1959
C) 2004
D) 1992
  • 72. In what year did the Supreme Court issue the Brown II decision?
A) 1959
B) 1955
C) 1964
D) 1954
  • 73. The phrase 'all deliberate speed' is traceable to which author?
A) Richard Jones
B) Charles Scott Jr.
C) Francis Thompson
D) Linda Brown
  • 74. How did critics view the language 'all deliberate speed'?
A) As an immediate mandate
B) As too ambiguous
C) As a precise deadline
D) As legally binding
  • 75. In what year was the Brown case reopened in Topeka?
A) 1978
B) 1955
C) 1999
D) 1964
  • 76. Who was the plaintiff that reopened the Brown case in 1978?
A) Richard Jones
B) Joseph Johnson
C) Charles Scott Jr.
D) Linda Brown Smith
  • 77. What was the specific Topeka Public Schools policy that prompted the reopening of Brown?
A) Teacher assignment quotas
B) Mandatory integration
C) Open enrollment
D) Forced bussing
  • 78. In what year did Topeka Unified School District No. 501 finally achieve unitary status?
A) 1989
B) 1994
C) 1999
D) 1998
  • 79. Who assisted the Topeka attorneys in reopening the Brown case?
A) The Supreme Court
B) American Civil Liberties Union
C) Francis Thompson
D) The Prince Edward County board
  • 80. On what date did Linda Brown die?
A) April 1, 2018
B) March 25, 2017
C) March 25, 2018
D) January 15, 2018
  • 81. According to the text, what were the names of Linda Brown's playmates?
A) Sarah, Jane, and Emily
B) Alice, Beth, and Carol
C) Mary, Susan, and Linda
D) Mona, Guinevere, and Wanda
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