NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) Princeton Committee

 About LDF in Princeton

The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) is America's oldest civil rights organization devoted to securing equal justice for all. LDF was founded in 1940 under the direction of Thurgood Marshall, who later became Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. LDF has been a separate entity from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People since 1957. The Legal Defense Fund, under Thurgood Marshall's leadership, argued and won the landmark 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education--the school desegregation case that put an end to the "separate but equal" doctrine of government discrimination. The Princeton Committee of the LDF supports the work of the LDF with an annual fundraising reception and programs in Princeton's public schools. http://www.naacpldf.org/

About the Video Produced by the Princeton Committee

In 1948, six years before Brown v. Board of Education, Princeton integrated its elementary schools by means of what has come to be called the Princeton Plan, and at its 1998 reception, held at the Institute for Advanced Study, the Princeton Committee commemorated this fiftieth anniversary. In preparation, four members of the Princeton Committee consulted administrators, teachers, parents and students who had participated in the integration process. The responses reflected a wide range of viewpoints, some positive, some not so positive. A brief history was included in the program, and Shirley Satterfield, who was a second grader in 1948, spoke of her experiences when the schools were integrated.

Some of the recollections were so vivid and revealing that the Committee asked the four members to produce a video to present a true picture of the "Princeton Plan." The video, completed in the spring of 1999, is entitled The Princeton Plan: 50 Years Later. It uses filmed interviews to document the past, in the hope of providing guideposts to the best solutions for the future.

How to Get a Copy of "The Princeton Plan 50 Years Later"

·  Borrow a copy from the Princeton Public Library.

·  Pick up a copy for $10 at 64 Harris Road. (Call Fannie Floyd first at 609-921-8429.)

·  Order a copy by mail. Send a check for $13 made out to Princeton Committee/LDF to

     Judy Schoenstein, 26 Harriet Drive, Princeton, NJ 08540.

 

For questions, write, e-mail or call Ellen Seiler: 376 Jefferson Road, Princeton, NJ 08540

609-921-6237