Brown v. The Board of Education should have ended segregation in schools across the nation. But in 1963, students in Chicago were still denied access to schools with white kids.
On October 22, 1963, they initiated what would become known as Freedom Day.
Chicago schools were divided by race and money. Benjamin Willis, the Chicago Public Schools superintendent, had no problem funding schools in white areas. He was heralded for improving conditions in those schools while he ignored the issues in Black schools.
Redlining - which limits financial resources to specific neighborhoods - allowed all of the money for resources, teachers, and classrooms to go to white schools. When Black schools became overcrowded, Willis created what became known as “Willis Wagons,” aluminum mobile classrooms.
These conditions continued for months until students had enough. They made a plan to fight for their rights, and on the morning of October 22, over 225,000 students boycotted school.
That was over half of the school district.
Though a success in action, the protest changed little in Chicago. The city would take another 25 years to reform its school system. But had it not been for those students protesting, many other cities may have continued to keep us from the education we deserve.