The Roberts Case
A five year old African American girl named Sarah Roberts, daughter of Benjamin Roberts, the nation's first African American printer, was required to attend an all black elementary school. Benjamin Roberts challenged the Boston School Committee in 1848, but in 1850 Chief Justice Lemuel Shaw told them that segregated schools are permitted under the U.S. Constitution. Even though the Roberts lost this case, it helped future cases like the Brown v. Board of Education win theirs.
