Underground Boston (Black History Month Series-Part 2)

        This past summer I visited Boston, Massachusetts for the first time. During this trip, I went on an Underground Railroad walking tour, and it was very informative. Our tour guide was great and gave great details to different sites. I took down the names of many of the figures and stories heard to be stored in my collection of American history. Today I would like to honor Sarah Roberts and the case against the City of Boston.

     In modern times of America education, we heard about Brown vs. Board of Education case that desegregated schools in America. But in the 1840’s there was Sarah Roberts. She was a 5-year-old girl living in the city. Her only way to receive an education was the attend the Abiel Smith school which was the only one to service Black children. The problem with this plan was that Sarah had to walk to school, passing five schools that were for White children only. Her father Benjamin grew frustrated by this idea, so in 1848, he enrolled her into one of the schools closest to her. That school rejected her admission, so Benjamin decided to file suit against the city under an 1845 statute.

      That ruling stated… Any child, unlawfully excluded from public school instruction, in this Commonwealth, shall recover damages therefor, in an action on the case, to be brought in the name of said child, by his guardian or next friend, in any court of competent jurisdiction to try the same, against the city or town by which such public school instruction is supported.

      The first African American man to pass the bar in Massachusetts, Robert Morris took on the case. A young abolitionist who would later become a senator in the state, Charles Sumner, was co-counsel. The goal was to get the ruling of separate schools provided by the Boston Primary School Committee to be overturned. This would allow families of all races to designate the school they want for their child.

      In the end, the judges in the case did not side with Sarah Roberts. But for years following many activists, including William C. Neill, fought. Finally, in 1855, the Massachusetts legislature outlawed public school segregation. This was a celebrated win in America. Years later more cases in terms of segregation in public spaces including Plessy vs. Ferguson and the Brown vs. Board of Education took place.