On September 10, 1867, 12-year-old Susan Clark trudged up the hill near her home to Grammar School No. 2, an all-white public school in her neighborhood. Susan had taken all the classes available at the all-Black school run by her church and she wanted to continue her education. The principal at Grammar School No. 2 turned Susan away with a letter explaining he was “authorized by the school board… to refuse [her] admittance.” Susan’s father, Alexander Clark, was an activist and former conductor for the Underground Railroad. He sued the school’s Board of Directors on Susan’s behalf. The Clark family won the case with the help of former Iowa Attorney General David Cloud. The Board appealed. State Supreme Court Justice Chester C. Cole ruled in the Clark family’s favor. He noted that separate was not equal. He implied that segregating by color was like segregating by nationality, and by this logic, all other nationalities (such as Irish, French, and English) must be separated as well.  He concluded by saying all children are equal. After winning the case, Susan eventually became Iowa’s first Black high school graduate, receiving her diploma with honors. Her brother and father went on to be the first two Black men to attend the University of Iowa Law School. In Clark v. Board of Directors, Iowa became the first state to desegregate public schools. Still, many Black students in Iowa continued to face discrimination and mistreatment for decades. Further, despite Justice Cole’s groundbreaking ruling, the “separate but equal” doctrine wouldn’t be outlawed nationally for another 86 years. [260 words]