Sarah's Long Walk: The Free Blacks of Boston

Paul and Stephen Kendrick talked about their book Sarah’s Long Walk: The Free Blacks of Boston and How Their Struggle for Equality Changed America, published by Beacon Press. They described the beginnings of anti-segregation cases in America, focusing on the story of Sarah Roberts, a five-year-old girl who in 1847 walked past five all white schools every morning on her way to her all black school. Her father sued the city of Boston for his daughter having been turned away at each white school. The case eventually landed in the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court where Chief Justice Shaw issued his “separate but equal” ruling. This form of segregation would remain intact until Chief Justice Thurgood Marshall’s overturning of that ruling one hundred years later. After their presentation the co-authors answered questions from members of the audience. close