These three buildings at Howard University were key sites for the university’s legal establishment of integrated public education. The school provided preparation for Thurgood Marshall and the NAACP’s legal strategy that resulted in the historic decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which ruled that “separate but equal” public educational facilities created an unequal learning environment and mandated the desegregation of public schools across the country. Nine of the 10 attorneys who argued in the Brown case were professors or graduates of Howard University School of Law, which has graduated the greatest number of civil rights attorneys in the nation.
The Founders Library holds the largest collection of African American documents, letters, and oral histories about the African American experience. The Ralph Bunche collection contains letters to and from national and international civil rights activists.
Several buildings on the campus have been designated as National Historic Landmarks, and visitors can enjoy a self-guided walking tour around the campus.
