MERRIAM, Kan. — United States representatives Sharice Davids, Emanuel Cleaver II and Jake LaTurner are calling on the National Park Service to incorporate local history into the Brown v. Board of Education’s National Historic Park during the 70th anniversary year of the Brown v. Board of Education decision.
In the Oct. 8 letter, the representatives called attention to the 1949 decision in the Webb v. School District No. 90 (Webb) case, which took place in what is currently known as Merriam, Kansas.
In the case — which included a year-long walkout — local parents, students and activists fought the school board and later won when the Supreme Court of Kansas ruled Black students could attend South Park Elementary School instead of having to continue attending the “two-room, dilapidated” Walker School.
“The Webb Case that went to the Kansas Supreme Court really was a foundational piece of making sure that when the Supreme Court took up Brown v. Board, that there was precedent and a legal framework,” Davids said.
The day they sent the letter, sitting on the steps of where the Walker School once was, Davids and Cleaver met four of the Webb children: Mary, Wanda, Deborah and Cheterria. Their parents, Alfonso and Mary Webb, filed the case.
“Dad and mom didn’t know at that time that they were creating history,” Deborah Webb Stephens said.
Philadelphia Missionary Baptist Church now occupies the space where the Walker School was.
A historical marker sits on the front lawn indicating the historical site.
But with so much of the physical landscape changed, the Webb family is relying on storytelling to preserve their history.
“We’ve got to have people today to know what yesterday looked like so that yesterday won’t revisit us,” Cleaver said.
It’s why they say young people need to learn as much history as possible.
“They need to know it because they take it for granted,” Mary Webb said. “They think, ‘Oh, we can always just go to school. We can always just go to stores.’”
With an election coming up, the Webb sisters agree the representatives’ letter is a timely ask.
“Get out and vote,” Cheterria Webb Williams said. “If we don’t get out and let our voices — people of color voices — know, then some of the rights that we have attained will be taken away.”
It turns out a church was fitting for a conversation all about keeping the faith.
“Their objective was to do what was right for their children,” Stephens said about her parents. “And they did. And they prayed on it. They prayed through it. They prayed all around it. So, we’re blessed.”
KSHB 41 reporter Rachel Henderson covers neighborhoods in Wyandotte and Leavenworth counties. Share your story idea with Rachel.
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