11 Most Endangered

Sumner Elementary School

Year Listed: 2008
Location: Topeka , Kansas
Current Status: Endangered
Threat: Deterioration, Neglect

Sumner Elementary School

The dilapidated front entrance of Sumner School. Photo by Amy Cole.

Sumner Elementary School

Sumner Elementary School. Photo by Amy Cole.

Sumner Elementary School

Unique light fixture in foyer. Photo by Janine Joslin, Kansas Preservation Alliance, Inc.

Significance

Sumner Elementary School, a National Historic Landmark, helped launch the nation's Civil Rights Movement as one of the schools at the center of the U.S. Supreme Court's (1954) ruling in Brown v. Board of Education. Built for white students in 1936, Sumner Elementary became a pivotal catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement, when the School Board refused to admit Linda Brown, an African-American student. Although the school was only seven blocks from her home, Brown was forced to either walk one mile across a railroad switchyard or travel for more than an hour by an unreliable bus service to attend the all-black Monroe Elementary School. In 1954, the NAACP took her complaint to the Supreme Court and made history when the case—Brown v. Board of Education—struck down the "separate but equal" doctrine and mandated that all schools be desegregated.

In 1987, the National Park Service designated both Sumner and Monroe Elementary Schools National Historic Landmarks. Since Sumner was still in active use at the time, Monroe Elementary was selected to house the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site where visitors could learn about the landmark case and its broader contribution to the Civil Rights Movement.

Updates

March 2009: The sale of the building to the Los Angeles-based True Foundation World Outreach Ministries Inc. was finalized on March 5. The group intends to turn Sumner into a multipurpose resource center offering 24-hour day care and programs in areas that include employment education, counseling and entrepreneurship. They are in the process of developing a time line for renovation.

January 2009: The city of Topeka auctioned the Sumner School. The high bidder was True Foundation World Outreach Ministries which offered $89,000 for the historic school.

May 2008: Vacant since 1996, the school suffers from deferred maintenance and has sustained significant damage from water infiltration, neglect and vandalism. As current problems remain unaddressed and damage worsens, this national icon is being allowed to deteriorate even further and resources have not been allocated to stem this tide. In 2002, the city of Topeka purchased Sumner Elementary with funding from the State Historic Preservation Office. As part of the acquisition, the city signed a covenant, which expires in 2012, that prevents demolition, and requires the city to maintain and protect the building, with the goal of finding a reuse for the facility.

Unfortunately, limited resources and failure to secure a developer have prevented the city from implementing an effective strategy to safeguard the school. As a result, the Topeka City Council authorized staff in June 2007 to take the initial steps toward demolishing the school. The city's failure to protect the site and its subsequent proposal to demolish it violate the covenant.