Press Releases

Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site News Release


Contact: Joan Wilson, (785) 354-4273



Brown v. Board celebrates NPS Centennial with African-Native Heritage exhibit

Topeka, KS – In celebration of the National Park Service Centennial, Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site will feature an exhibit entitled: A Tale of Two Nations: Reconnecting Our African-Native Heritage. The exhibit is free and open to the public from August 1 to September 3. The site will also be open for First Friday on August 5, 5:30-7:30 p.m.

History has vague records of when the first meeting between Native Americans and African Americans occurred. The black presence in America began during the first European expeditions in the early sixteenth century with the free blacks, indentured servants, slaves, and conquistadores of the new world. This exhibit explores the African-Native interconnectedness, from the colonial era to present day.

As part of the First Friday Art Walk, on August 5, 5:30-7:30 p.m., the site will feature artwork from Artist-In-Residence Michael Toombs of Storytellers Inc., and local artist George Mayfield. A collection from artist Wayne Wildcat's paintings of Native American and African American history will also be exhibited. Wildcat is a Kansas Governor’s artist. He was chosen as a Millennium Artist by the Mid Atlantic Arts Alliance and had a 6 week residency with exhibits in Guam. He has exhibited paintings in U.S. Embassies in Africa, through the Art in Embassy Program of the State Dept. 

Wildcat paints history in a realistic, narrative style and is currently one of four finalists in a national competition to paint a mural in the Kansas Capitol to memorialize the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision. Wildcat has exhibited his Native American painting, The Strategy at the Kansas Capitol. Prints of this 9ft. x 15ft. painting and its companion, Ceremony, will be on exhibit at the Brown site through September 3.

Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site tells the story of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that ended legal segregation in public schools. The site is located at 1515 SE Monroe Street in Topeka, Kansas, and is open free of charge, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily For more information call (785) 354-4273 or visit www.nps.gov/brvb and www.facebook.com/brownvboardnps.