Twelve Black students in Fort Smith, represented by their parents, sued the Board of Directors of the Fort Smith Special School District and the Superintendent of Schools. Six of these students were enrolled at Lincoln School, a high school for Black students. The other six students were enrolled in local elementary schools. Lincoln School was more than fifty years old, unsafe, and unsanitary. The curriculum was inferior to the one provided for the district’s white students, and lacked courses such as physics, geometry, business, and romance languages. The equipment used for teaching shop work was inadequate. There were no facilities to teach metal trades, auto mechanics, linotyping, or printing. There also were no equal gym facilities. White schools had all of these facilities as well as a football stadium and swimming pool. The Black students sued the Fort Smith School Board for denying Black children equal educational opportunities and advantages. The courts decided that the differences between the Black and white schools were only the result of the difference in the number of students served. Since more white students attended schools in Fort Smith, the better, more expensive, and newer facilities in the white schools were justified.  The Black students lost their case.