Iowa became the first state to desegregate public schools after the Civil War. The 1868 landmark case, Clark v. Board of Directors, outlawed the "separate-but-equal" doctrine that governed schools elsewhere for another 86 years. At the time, the white schools had "globes and charts and competent teachers," and paid teachers $700 to $900 a year, while the black schools did not have those attributes; the pay was $150 to $200 a year, according to a letter Alexander Clark wrote to the Muscatine Journal in 1867. In addition, white schools were located in the city, while black schools were "nearly a mile from many of the small colored children, keeping more than a third of them from school," the letter said.
While the Iowa Supreme Court decision was groundbreaking, it would take longer for schools across the state to assent to the ruling, and more brave people to file litigation to force desegregation.
#CelebrateBlackIowaHistory