DC
Bolling
vs
Sharpe
Charles Hamilton Houston (lead counsel for the NAACP), Gardner Bishop (a community organizer and Civil Rights activist), and James Nabrit Jr. (a Howard University law professor and attorney), wanted to challenge segregation head-on instead of just seeking “separate but equal” schools. On September 11, 1950, the District of Columbia built John Phillips Sousa Junior High for white children. This new school had double gyms and seven basketball courts. While the local Black schools were overcrowded, this new school for white children had so much space there were empty classrooms. Bishop took 11 Black children to enroll on the school's first day. They were refused admission. Spottswood Bolling Jr. was one of the students. He attended Shaw Junior High, an overcrowded Black school lacking resources. With George E. C. Hayes as co-counsel, the attorneys filed a lawsuit with Bolling as the plaintiff and Melvin Sharpe, the district's superintendent, as the defendant. To avoid asking for "separate but equal" schooling, Nabrit did not cite the 14th Amendment and instead cited the due process clause of the 5th Amendment. Two years later, Nabrit got a call that the Court wished to combine Bolling's case with others challenging segregated schools. Because Bishop had seen NAACP representatives prioritize middle- and upper-class Black families over poorer ones, he insisted that they be removed from the Bolling case. The case was merged with four others and re-argued in December of 1953 under Brown v. Board of Education. Newly confirmed Chief Justice Earl Warren ruled in favor of Bolling through Brown. This was the only major school case decided without counsel from the NAACP. Bishop worked as a barber until he retired in 1985. He passed away November 25, 1992. [282 words]
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