Mrs. Nelson's Class

On May 17 1954 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the case of Brown v. Boardof Education of Topeka Kansas that state-sanctioned segregation of publicschools is unconstitutional.In September 1954 in an Air Force base school near Salina Kansas youngAfrican American teacher Mrs. Johnnie Mitchell Nelson became the teacher ofa second grade class of twenty white children. Mrs. Nelson knew but did herpupils understand they were making history together?Through a class roster of persona poems by poets Doug Anderson MarthaCollins Alfred Corn Annie Finch Helen Frost Margaret Gibson JeanineHathaway Andrew Hudgins Mark Jarman Peter Johnson Meg Kearney Ron Koertge David Mason Leslie Monsour Dinty W. Moore Marilyn Nelson Lesléa Newman Michael Palma Michael Waters and Katherine Williams thisanthology presents Mrs. Nelson and her class imagining how she and herstudents may have experienced their unique situation.