A LOOK BACK: KAPPA HISTORY
race and religion wouldn't be considered when teachers were hired. Ironically, dur- ing 1953, the school board had voted 5-1 to end segregation in Topeka’s elementary schools. By the time the Brown v. Board of Education decision was rendered, five elementary schools remained to be integrated. Just three (3) years old when his father filed the case, Brother Charles Scott Jr. went on to follow his father and grandfa- ther into Civil Rights Law. He was part of a team with his father that would file a lawsuit 25 years later, complaining that Topeka Public Schools hadn’t desegregat- ed and integrated schools. Extending into the 1990s, the case would lead to school closings, new magnet schools opening and new transfer policies in Topeka, Kansas. Charles S. Scott Jr. declared “had it not been for the life and career of Elisha Scott and Charles Scott (his grandfather and father), what we now know as Brown v. Board of Education would have never- I underscore never- been initiated in Topeka, Kansas”. Their courageous effort, foresight, intellectual acumen and erudi- tion of the law and their love of humanity is very much attributable to Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Incorporated. The following brothers are just a small sample of the achievements and impact that Washburn University Chapter, the Rho of Kappa Alpha Psi and Topeka Alumni Chapter have had on the Nation. Elisha J. Scott , 1890-1963, was raised in Topeka’s Tennesseetown. As a youth, he possessed a strong drive and a quick wit which attracted the eye of prominent Topeka Minister Charles M. Sheldon. With financial support from Sheldon and his own abilities to succeed, Brother Scott was the third African American to earn his law degree fromWashburn College in 1916. Brother Scott was an amusing, smart and enigmatic man. He handled criminal defense, Indian claims, oil and gas leases, and military justice cases. He Washburn University Chapter, the Rho of Kappa Alpha Psi
used intelligence, ethics, theatricality and comedy to win his cases. Well before Brown v. Board of Education, Scott won cases that admitted black students to white schools. During his long career as an attorney, he argued many civil rights and school segregation cases throughout Kansas and the Midwest. Two of Scott’s sons, John and Charles, joined him in his law firm of Scott, Scott, Scott and Jack- son. Together they helped to prosecute at the local level and the landmark civil rights case of Brown v. Topeka Board of Education. Brother Scott was one of four men who drafted the constitution for the National Association of Colored Profes- sional Baseball Clubs and the Negro National League. He became President of Topeka Chapter of the NAACP in 1941. The Honorable Raymond J. Reynolds , 1905-1995 graduated Washburn Law School in 1929, practiced law in Topeka for 17 years. Brother Reynolds did the preliminary work with the NAACP’s national office to explore the merits of using the Topeka school system for the case that ultimately became a landmark school desegregation decision, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, He also wrote a column entitled “Cheers and Encores” for the Topeka Capital-Journal. Brother Reynolds moved to California in the late 1940s. Reynolds served several years as president of the NAACP in San Francisco and won several legal decisions that advanced civil rights. In 1954, Reyn- olds became the first African American appointed as Deputy City Attorney in San Francisco, and became well known as one of their top trial attorneys. Governor Ronald Reagan appointed him as judge of the Superior Court in Oakland in 1969, where he served until his retirement ten years later. Following retirement, he returned to the bench to fill temporary court vacancies in several judicial districts at the request of the California Judicial Council. In 1989, Judge Reynolds was inducted into the National Bar Association’s Hall of Fame; he was the first Washburn Law graduate to receive this honor. He wrote two books, Sharing My Notebook, published in 1979,
and Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury, a dissertation on successful ways to sway juries, which was published in 1989. JB Holland, principal of Monroe El- ementary School, selected in 1977 to the Kansas Teacher Hall of Fame. JB was the cornerstone of the Topeka Alumni Chap- ter serving over 20 years as the chapter Keeper of Records and Exchequer. Charles S. Scott , 1921-1989, after Brown, his reputation led to offers from leading law firms in the Nation, he chose to remain in Topeka. From the beginning of his career, Brother Scott represented clients seeking justice in the face of racial segregation and other forms of discrimina- tion. Among many examples: He joined his brother John in bringing successful court challenges against local public recreation and eating establishments that excluded African Americans. He continued his leadership role in civil rights locally and nationally, notably as the Legal Redress Committee chair of the Topeka Chapter of the Kansas NAACP and in the 1960s volunteered to represent the Congress of Racial Equality in Mississippi during the Civil Rights Movement. In 1968, he founded the Coordinating Committee of the Black Community in Topeka to address civil rights violations, unfair hiring practices and other economic issues that required advocacy. Beginning in 1972, he served as general counsel for the Kansas Commission on Civil Rights and was pro- moted to the position of hearing examiner in which he served until his death. John Scott , 1919-1984, Brother of Charles Scott and son of Elisha Scott. Af- ter the Brown case, he accepted a position at the Department of Interior as Assistant Solicitor. He worked for the Department of Interior for 30 years. One of the Topeka magnet schools, Scott Computer Technol- ogy Magnet School is named for the Scott family. Onan Burnett , 1921-2000, following in the footsteps of his uncle, McKinley Burnett, he carried on the revered Burnett name in the ensuing struggle for civil rights. Onan became a teacher and foot-
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Publishing achievement for 105 years
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