The Latest: Brown called heroic for part in segregation case

TOPEKA, Kan. – The Latest on the death of Linda Brown, who as a girl in Kansas was at the centre of the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down racial segregation in schools (all times local):

11 p.m.

The president and director-counsel at NAACP Legal Defence and Educational Fund Inc. says Linda Brown is one of a band of heroic young people who courageously fought to end the ultimate symbol of white supremacy — racial segregation in public schools.

Sherrilyn Ifill said in a statement that Brown “stands as an example of how ordinary schoolchildren took centre stage in transforming this country.”

Brown as a Kansas girl was at the centre of the landmark 1954 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down racial segregation in schools. Peaceful Rest Funeral Chapel of Topeka confirmed that Brown died Sunday afternoon. She was 75. No cause of death was released.

Brown’s father tried to enrol her in an all-white school in Topeka, and the case was sparked when he and several black families were turned away.

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5:20 p.m.

Linda Brown, the Kansas girl at the centre of the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down racial segregation in schools, has died at age 75.

Topeka’s former Sumner School was all-white when her father, Oliver, tried to enrol the family. He became lead plaintiff in the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision by the Supreme Court that ended school segregation.

Peaceful Rest Funeral Chapel of Topeka confirmed that Linda Brown died Sunday afternoon. Funeral arrangements are pending.

Her sister, Cheryl Brown Henderson, founding president of The Brown Foundation, confirmed the death to The Topeka Capital-Journal. She declined comment from the family.

Kansas Deputy Education Commissioner Dale Dennis says her legacy is not only here but nationwide. He says the effect she had “on our society would be unbelievable and insurmountable.”

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This story has been updated to show that Linda Brown was 75, not 76.