Benjamin Franklin Roberts (September 4, 1815 – September 6, 1881) was an African-American printer, writer, activist and abolitionist in Boston, Massachusetts, whose famous case on behalf of his daughter, Sarah Roberts v. Boston, resulted in a verdict that laid the foundation for "separate but equal", but was also cited in the landmark 1954 case Brown vs. Board of Education.
Despite losing his case seeking access to schools near his home for his 5-year-old daughter at the Massachusetts Supreme Court, he was successful in 1855 bringing the issue to the state legislature.
[3] Roberts attended the Good Samaritan School in North Bridgewater as a boy and was very influenced by his grandfather, James, and his uncle, Hosea Easton.
No issues of the Anti-Slavery Herald survive, but the paper must have been considered radical since he lost the recommendation and support of Amos Phelps, a prominent white abolitionist.
Of note is an expanded, one volume edition of the African and Native American author Robert Benjamin Lewis's book, Light and Truth.
Chief Justice Lemuel Shaw of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled against them and upheld racial segregation in schools.