Illinois Commission on the 50th Anniversary
of Brown v. Board of Education

ACTIVITY TEN AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Web Site Development for the Illinois Brown Commission

The Illinois Brown Commission empowered a subcommittee to create an Internet webpage for the purpose of collecting and distributing information about the activities of the Commission. It is located at: http://www.illionisbrownvboard.org Commission Papers and related items can be found among the Appendices on the website.

Technical Details

In March 2004, Council of Advisor member Gary Fresen was delegated authority by a vote of the Illinois Brown Commission to form a subcommittee for the implementation of a website on the Internet. Vice Chair Judge Arnette Hubbard and Executive Director Ollie McLemore provided assistance and oversight to the sub-committee. The Commission voted to have the website hosted at Chicago State University (CSU) and utilize university staff and technical personnel to run the website as an in Gary Fresen, Esq. kind donation by CSU.

A domain name for the website, "www.illinoisbrownvboard.org," was approved by the Commission and Gary Fresen purchased a three-year contract (with an e xpiration date of March 29, 2007 ) with Network Solutions as an in-kind donation. CSU network administrator, Dr. Shih-Chang Steve Chao, placed the domain name on the CSU Internet Server in such a manner that the name of Chicago State University does not appear on the domain name of the URL (Uniform Resource Locator). After the website was set up on the Internet, the ownership of the domain name was officially transferred to Illinois Commission on the 50th Anniversary of Brown v. Board.

The Illinois Brown Commission will be ending its existence as of June 30, 2005 . The Commission recommends that arrangements be made to assign or transfer ownership of the domain name to another entity in order to provide for the continuity and preservation of the site.

The website was designed by then CSU Webmasters Mr. William Graham and Ms. Pamela McMillian. It was designed and maintained with Dreamweaver software.

Website Structure

The Illinois Brown Commission website contains the following structure:

1. Welcome Page
2. List of Commission Members
3. List of Council of Advisor Members
4. Text of the Resolution of the Illinois Legislature
5. Text of the 1954 ­Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas decision
6. Top 5 Resources for Teachers and Students
7. Script of the Re-Enactment Program held at Chicago State University on May 17, 2004
8. Articles by Commission, Advisory Council Members, and Scholars
9. Script of the Re-Enactment Assembly performed by 8 th graders held at Salem Christian Academy
10. Announcements of Events by the Illinois Brown Commission
11. Activities and Accomplishments of the Illinois Brown Commission
12. A table of the consolidated cases from the Brown decision entitled, "They Were No Cowards." This section of the website is a unique and sophisticated webpage that contains a table of information listing each of the consolidated Brown cases, from trial to the U.S. Supreme Court. It includes in an easily readable format date, case name, citations, plaintiffs, defendants, plaintiffs' Attorneys, Defense Attorneys, Judge(s), and notes about the case. The research project was designed and supervised by Vice-Chair Judge Arnette Hubbard. Pamela McMillian ( Chicago State University ) created the web presentation. It is one of the gems of the work of the Illinois Brown Commission and is available to all students, lawyers, and scholars worldwide
13. Recommendations of the Illinois Brown Commission
14. Brown v. Board: A Selected Bibliography and other resources.

To illustrate the types of information available to teachers and students, the following list is from the "Top 5 Resources" on the Illinois Brown Commission website:

American Bar Association (See special ABA Resource List)
http://www.abanet.org/brown/home.html

Brown Foundation for Educational Equity, Excellence and Research
Brown vs. The Board of Education of Topeka - Background Summary of the Five Lawsuits that were consolidated for argument before the U.S. Supreme Court
http://brownvboard.org/summary/

Fun Activities for K-3

Student Activity Booklet
http://brownvboard.org/actvtybk/cover.htm

In Pursuit of Fun, Freedom and Quality
http://brownvboard.org/actvtybk/fun.htm

Brown v. Board of Education - Myths v. Truths
http://brownvboard.org/mythsandtruths/

Brown Quarterly -- Quarterly Newsletter for Classroom Teachers (See special List of Articles)
http://brownvboard.org/brwnqurt/brwnqurt.htm

NAACP

NAACP: Brown 50 Years & Beyond Promise & Progress
http://naacp.org/BvBE/

Commemorative site: NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund
http://brownmatters.org/resources.html

Howard University and the Howard University School of Law Brown at 50
Howard University and its School of Law celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education through striving to fulfill the promise of Brown through recommitting the university and the law school to using law to work toward social justice.
http://www.brownat50.org
http://www.law.howard.edu/brownat50

National Education Association (NEA) (See special NEA Resource List) April 2004 NEA Magazine
http://nea.org/neatoday/0404/resources.html

University of Illinois -- Brown v. Board of Education Jubilee Commemoration
http://www.oc.uiuc.edu/Brown/index.html

Illinois Commission on the 50th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education

Co-Chairs
Illinois Senate President - The Honorable Emil Jones, Jr.
Illinois House Speaker - The Honorable Michael J. Madigan
Vice-Chairs
Senator Mattie Hunter
Judge Arnette R. Hubbard

Contact: Executive Director Ollie McLemore
Illinois Commission on the 50th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education
Chicago State University
9501 S. King Drive, ADM 300
Chicago, Illinois 60628-1598
v.773/995-3608 f. 773/995-4470

Email Ollie McLemore