In honor of Thurgood Marshall Day! A special screening of Award Winner "Two Schools in Hillburn" with film maker Joe Allen and historian Chuck Stead. A short discussion follows the movie. "It was here that Thurgood Marshall developed his strategy on how he would argue Brown v. Board of Education, and not only did this end separate but equal in New York state education, but it was the foundation for the end of that practice around the country. ... It was a game-changer in how our kids are educated."
Two Schools in Hillburn" recounts the 1943 struggle to integrate the village's Main School for white students and the Brook School, where "colored" students were sent.
Joe Allen's film recounts the effects of "Jim Crow” or “separate but equal” education practices at the schools. The Main School had a library, playground and indoor plumbing; the Brook School had none of those things.
The segregation battle gained momentum through a boycott by black families and the first public school segregation case brought by a young Thurgood Marshall.
Movie length: 1 hour