Sumner Elementary School's challenges and changes were fairly typical for schools of its day in Topeka, Kansas.. The first Sumner School was built in either 1875 or 1880 but was only in operation until 1888 before burning down. Originally a black school, it was converted into a school for white children in 1885 while black students were educated in a smaller building located on the property.
The second Sumner School was damaged in a windstorm in 1898, forcing a new school to be built. The school opened in 1901 and remained in operation until the current Sumner Elementary was constructed just to the north in 1935. Sumner operated as a white school, forcing black children who lived in this surrounding neighborhood to cross major streets and rail yards to attend Monroe Elementary two miles away. In 1954, Linda Brown and her family decided to petition for her to attend Sumner Elementary, the denial of which sparked what would come to be the Supreme Court case Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education. the Court's decision that separate but equal is inherently unequal set the state for subsequent civil rights cases throughout the country. The groundbreaking Brown vs. Board Decision is now celebrated by the Topeka community as well as people around the world for the precedent that it created in civil rights. |
Sumner Today |
Monroe closed in 1975 and later became the National Park Service’s Brown vs. Board National Historic Site. Today it is a National Historic Park. Sumner remained in operation until 1996 when it closed to help satisfy requirements of the original decision, which was reopened in the 1980s. Since then, Sumner has been held by various public entities before being purchased by a private owner in 2009.
In the time since its closing, the school has been subject to neglect and vandalism. A study conducted in 2001 estimated that it would cost $5 million for the complete restoration of the school. A representative of the owners has advised, though the building has been boarded for multiple years, that it is holding steady internally and vandalism has been limited. |
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