Alongside the church, schools were anchors of African American life in Topeka. With the rise of an all-black teaching force in the city’s black schools in the 1880s, teachers formed the backbone of the black middle class. They believed education would liberate their race from ignorance, degradation, and poverty. Although local teachers saw their profession as a calling, they were divided about school integration because it could mean the closure of black schools and the loss of black teachers’ jobs. Not one black Topeka teacher became a plaintiff in the case. On April 23, 1948, the Topeka Council of Colored Parents and Teachers said they would not favor changing the present set-up of segregated elementary schools without more evidence that their children would do as well and be as happy as they were then.
