2024 marks the 70th anniversary of the landmark ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, in which the Supreme Court ruled separating children in public schools on the basis of race was unconstitutional. It signaled the end of legalized racial segregation in the schools of the United States, overruling the "separate but equal" principle set forth in the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson case. One of the companion cases argued with Brown was out of Delaware, so the library is embarking on a series of programs educating the public about the history of the Delaware case, including the times, people, issues, and how it all played out then and thereafter. 

The companion case that came out of Delaware was unlike any other, thanks to Chancery Judge Collins J. Seitz’s ruling of segregation in public schools to be unconstitutional. His ruling was the first of its kind in the nation and reflected a long-held commitment he had to racial justice. Ronald Collins will engage in conversation with Claire DeMatteis, Esq, Secretary of Delaware's Department of Human Resources, who is writing the authorized biography Judge Seitz and has access to his personal papers. Kathleen Marie Doyle, author of Allies for Justice: How Louis Redding and Collins Seitz Changed the Complexion of America’s Schools, also will join in the conversation.

Ron Collins is a retired law professor, co-founder of the History Book Festival, and the Lewes Public Library’s Distinguished Lecturer. He just released his latest book Tragedy on Trial: The Story of the Infamous Emmett Till Murder Trial.

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