1) Plessy v. Ferguson established the "separate but equal" doctrine in 1896, allowing racial segregation in public facilities as long as the facilities for black and white citizens were equal.
2) Oliver Brown sued the Board of Education in Topeka, Kansas after his daughter had to walk past a white school to attend an all-black school.
3) In 1954, the Supreme Court overturned Plessy v. Ferguson in Brown v. Board of Education, ruling that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal" and violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.