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A Commemoration: Brown versus Board of Education of Topeka, 50th Anniversary, May 17, 2004
Governor's Proclamation, 8:30 a.m., south steps of Capitol building
Speakers decend south steps of the Capitol Hostess is Governor Kathleen Sebelius
The Reverand Jesse Jackson (second from left) attended the dedication but did not speak
Kansas Democratic lawmakers

Governor's Sebelius' special guest was presidential candidate John Kerry
Kansas State Capitol, Topeka, Kansas, on the morning of the dedication

Governor Sebelius read the declaration honoring Brown versus Board of Education Supreme Court decisionWade Henderson, Executive Director, Leadership on Civil RightsCheryl Brown Henerson, President, Brown Foundation
Elaine Jones, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Rep. Elijah Cummings, Sen. John Kerry, and Wade Henderson
Rep. Elijah Cummings, Chair, Congressional Black Congress and Congressman from Maryland's 7th District		 Senator Kerry made remarks at the dedication

Dedication, National Historic Site, Brown versus Board, Monroe School, 15th and Monroe, Topeka, Kansas

Monroe School has been restored as a National Park Service Historic Site. Monroe School contains a museum dedicated to the history of the nation's civil rights strugglePresident George W. Bush was keynote speaker at the ceremony

For details of the dedication event, visit the Brown v Board website,
including the Grand Opening Ceremony listing

Young girl watchs program from atop her daddy's shoulders
A crowd estimated at 5000 attended the event

National and regional media had their own stand at the event
Speakers' platform
16th Street Baptist Church Ghoir, Williams Magnet School Choir and Michelle Williams (at left)

Speakers: 

Cheryl Brown Henderson, sister of plantiff Linda Brown and President of the Brown Foundation
Topeka Mayor James A. McClinton

 Welcome by Stephen E. Adams, Park Superintendent
 Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, United States House of Representatives
 The Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth, Civil Rights Movement Forefather, was featured speaker
Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer
Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius Kansas Representative Jim Ryan Professor Ronald C. Griffin, washburn University Law School

President George W. Bush and Cheryl Brown HendersonPresident George W. Bush addresses guestsPresident Bush
Air Force One banked over Monroe School as it landed at Forbes Field with the president aboard
 George W. Bush addresses the assembly

All photos © 2004 by Carol Yoho
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