Arizona

Dameron

vs

Bayless

Samuel Bayless, a merchant and activist, wanted his two daughters to attend the white school near their home. Otherwise, the Bayless girls would have to walk across active train tracks to get the closest school they were allowed to attend. This dangerous daily journey placed an unnecessary burden on Black school children within the Phoenix school district. Bayless also worried that the school for Black children was inferior to the school for white children. In 1912, Bayless hired former Governor Joseph Kibbey to file a lawsuit against the Phoenix Elementary District School Board and its trustees. Kibbey argued that “separate could never be equal” and won the case. Unfortunately, Arizona became a state shortly thereafter and the state supreme court reversed the decision. They held that the Bayless children had to attend the Madison Street School of Maricopa County regardless of its distance from their home or other inconveniences. Samuel Bayless went on to create the Phoenix Advancement League to combat racial injustice in 1919. [165 words]

Further Reading

Book

Includes refrences to the case within the context of the chicano civil rights movement and connects the case other cases that were influenced by it

Website

Includes the findings of fact