MEDIA CONTACT: Terry Gearing
561-799-8026, gearing@fau.edu

FAU Hosts Brown vs. Board of Education Exhibit
"Stony the Road: Desegregating America's Schools"

JUPITER, FL (October 7, 2004) - Florida Atlantic University will host a traveling exhibit, "Stony the Road: Desegregating America's Schools," at the Jupiter campus library on Tuesday, October 5 through Sunday, October 17, 2004. Created by the Black History Museum & Cultural Center of Virginia, the exhibit chronicles the journey toward desegregating public schools in America and the resistance to integration campaigned by many states with the desire to continue segregated school systems. The exhibit is on loan from the Loxahatchee River Historical Museum, temporarily closed due to hurricane damage.

The 12-panel display explores the black experience as it relates to the fight for equal rights and a departure from second-class citizenship. The exhibit incorporates over forty archival photographs in a narrative that explores a number of themes in the march towards public school integration. Among the topics considered are legal maneuvers, both pro- and anti- integration and the establishment of massive resistance; the Brown decision, the doctrine of separate, but equal, and the contributions of students and the NAACP through bold protest and structured legal tactics.

This exhibit was created by Oliver W. Hill, Sr. and Dr. Terrance Roberts. Mr. Hill was the lead attorney for Davis vs. School Board of Prince Edward County, one of the five cases that made up the Brown vs. Board of Education case. Dr. Roberts was an original member of the "Little Rock Nine," who in 1957 integrated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, escorted by federal troops.

Florida Atlantic University's Jupiter campus library is open Monday through Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Saturday 8:45a.m. to 4:30p.m. and Sunday 12:30 to 9 p.m. Admission is free. Call 561-799-8530 for more information.

The Loxahatchee River Historical Society will host a related lecture in conjunction with this exhibit on Wednesday, October 13 from 7 to 8 p.m. at the Jupiter Community Center, 210 Military Trail. Dr. Sarah H. Brown, associate professor of history in FAU's Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, will discuss Florida's history in relation to Brown vs. the Board of Education. The lecture is free and open to the public. Call 561-747-6639 for more information.

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