How FDR Paved the Way to Brown v. The Board of Education

The Black Law Students Association is the Law School's chapter of a very active national organization. BLSA is very active at the Law School, planning many academic and social events. This year, BLSA is sponsoring a series of lectures commemorating Thurgood Marshall’s appointment to the Supreme Court. The second in this series took place a few weeks ago, when Kevin McMahon of Trinity College discussed “How FDR Paved the Way to Brown v. The Board of Education.” Professor McMahon, author of Reconsidering Roosevelt on Race, puts forth evidence that through his appointments to key judgeships and through the retooling of the Justice Department, President Franklin Roosevelt intentionally constructed the legal framework that made the outlawing of segregation possible. Listen to the talk here. (If you would like to follow along with Prof. McMahon’s PowerPoint presentation, you may download them here: Download kevin_mcmahon_power_point_slides.ppt)