[2] Her lawsuit against segregation in elementary schools was ultimately successful and the resulting Supreme Court precedent overturned the 'separate but equal' doctrine which had been previously established in Plessy v. Ferguson.

[4][5] At the direction of the NAACP, Linda Brown's parents attempted to enroll her in nearby Sumner elementary school and were denied.

At the time of the Brown v. Board of Education case, accommodations for black students in public schools were substandard.

Many black children were educated in schools that lacked basic amenities like running water or proper classrooms.

At the time, talented, college educated blacks could not easily enter many fields because of racial barriers.

Ultimately they changed their minds because in principle, if they did not like Monroe, they wanted to have the option to send Linda to Sumner.

No such service [was] furnished to white children.” [10] The NAACP appealed the decision of the U. S. District Court, and the case was heard by the U. S. Supreme Court, which overturned the decision and found that separate but equal approaches were unconstitutional, violating both the 5th amendment (due process) and the 14th amendment (equal protection under the law).

In 1979, with her own children attending Topeka schools,[6] Brown reopened her case against the Kansas Board of Education, arguing that segregation continued.

[3] In addition to her lifelong advocacy in law and education, Linda Brown's legacy includes the declaration of historic landmark status for both Sumner, the nearby whites-only school she sought to attend alongside her neighbors, and Monroe, a more distant, segregated elementary school.

Although her family wouldn't comment, Kansas Governor Jeff Colyer paid tribute to the woman who sparked one of the landmark cases in American history: "Sixty-four years ago a young girl from Topeka brought a case that ended segregation in public schools in America," he tweeted.

"Linda Brown's life reminds us that sometimes the most unlikely people can have an incredible impact and that by serving our community we can truly change the world."