II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 270 

To amend the Act entitled ‘‘Act to provide for the establishment of the 

Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in the State of 

Kansas, and for other purposes’’ to provide for inclusion of additional 

related sites in the National Park System, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 8, 2021 

Mr. COONS (for himself, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. WARNER, Mr. SCOTT of South 

Carolina, Mr. CARPER, Mr. MORAN, and Mr. KAINE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Act entitled ‘‘Act to provide for the establishment of the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in the State of Kansas, and for other purposes’’ to provide for inclusion of additional related sites 

in the National Park System, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Brown v. Board of 

5 Education National Historic Site Expansion Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF THE BROWN V. BOARD OF EDU2 CATION NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE. 

3 In order to honor the civil rights stories of struggle, 

4 perseverance, and activism in the pursuit of education eq5 uity, the Act entitled ‘‘Act to provide for the establishment 

6 of the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site 

7 in the State of Kansas, and for other purposes’’ approved 

8 October 26, 1992 (Public Law 102–525; 106 Stat. 3438 

9 et seq.), is amended as follows: 

10 (1) In section 101, by adding at the end the fol11 lowing new paragraph: 

12 ‘‘(3) The terms ‘affiliated area’ and ‘affiliated 

13 areas’ mean one or more of the locations associated 

14 with the four court cases included in Brown v. 

15 Board of Education of Topeka described in section 

16 102(a)(8), (9), and (10).’’. 

17 (2) In section 102(a)— 

18 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (3) and 

19 (4) as paragraphs (5) and (6), respectively; 

20 (B) by inserting after paragraph (2), the 

21 following: 

22 ‘‘(3) The Brown case was joined by four other 

23 cases related to school segregation pending before 

24 the Supreme Court (Briggs v. Elliott, filed in South 

25 Carolina; Davis v. County School Board of Prince 

26 Edward County, Spottswood Thomas Bolling, et al., 


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1 Petitioners, v. C. Melvin Sharpe, President of the 

2 District of Columbia Board of Education, et al., 

3 filed in Virginia; Gebhart v. Belton, filed in Dela4 ware; and Bolling v. Sharpe, filed in the District of 

5 Columbia) and consolidated into one case named 

6 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. 

7 ‘‘(4) A 1999 historic resources study examined 

8 the five cases included in Brown v. Board of Edu9 cation of Topeka and found each to be nationally 

10 significant and to contribute unique stories to the 

11 case for educational equity.’’; and 

12 (C) by inserting after paragraph (6) (as so 

13 redesignated by this section), the following: 

14 ‘‘(7) Summerton High School in South Caro15 lina, the all-White school that refused to admit the 

16 plaintiffs in Briggs v. Elliott, has been listed on the 

17 National Register of Historic Places in recognition 

18 of its national significance and is used as adminis19 trative offices for Clarendon School District 1. Other 

20 sites include former Scott’s Branch High School, an 

21 ‘equalization school’ constructed for African-Amer22 ican students in 1951 to provide facilities com23 parable to those of White students and that is now 

24 the Community Resource Center owned by 

25 Clarendon School District 1. 


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1 ‘‘(8) Robert Russa Moton School, the all-Black 

2 school in Farmville, Virginia, which was the location 

3 of a student-led strike leading to Davis v. County 

4 School Board of Prince Edward County, Spottswood 

5 Thomas Bolling, et al., Petitioners, v. C. Melvin 

6 Sharpe, President of the District of Columbia Board 

7 of Education, et al., has been designated a National 

8 Historic Landmark in recognition of its national sig9 nificance. The school, now the Robert Russa Moton 

10 Museum, is governed by the Moton Museum, Inc., 

11 and affiliated with Longwood University. 

12 ‘‘(9) Howard High School in Wilmington, Dela13 ware, an all-Black school to which plaintiffs in 

14 Belton v. Gebhart were forced to travel, has been 

15 designated a National Historic Landmark in rec16 ognition of its national significance. Now the How17 ard High School of Technology, it is an active school 

18 administered by the New Castle County Vocational19 Technical School District. The all-White Claymont 

20 High School, which denied plaintiffs admission, is 

21 now the Claymont Community Center administered 

22 by the Brandywine Community Resource Council, 

23 Inc. The Hockessin School #107C (Hockessin Col24 ored School) is the all-Black school in Hockessin, 

25 Delaware that one of the plaintiffs in Belton v. 


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1 Gebhart was required to attend with no public trans2 portation provided. The former Hockessin School 

3 building is utilized by Friends of Hockessin Colored 

4 School #107, Inc. as a community facility. 

5 ‘‘(10) John Philip Sousa Junior High School in 

6 the District of Columbia, the all-White school that 

7 refused to admit plaintiffs in Bolling v. Sharpe, has 

8 been designated a National Historic Landmark in 

9 recognition of its national significance. John Philip 

10 Sousa Junior High School, now John Philip Sousa 

11 Middle School, is owned by the District of Columbia 

12 Department of General Services and administered by 

13 the District of Columbia Public Schools.’’. 

14 (3) In section 102(b)(3)— 

15 (A) by inserting ‘‘, protection,’’ after 

16 ‘‘preservation’’; 

17 (B) by inserting ‘‘, Kansas; Summerton, 

18 South Carolina; Farmville, Virginia; Wil19 mington and Hockessin, Delaware; and the Dis20 trict of Columbia’’ after ‘‘Topeka’’; and 

21 (C) by inserting ‘‘and the context of Brown 

22 v. Board of Education’’ after ‘‘civil rights move23 ment’’. 

24 (4) In section 103, by inserting after subsection 

25 (b) the following: 


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1 ‘‘(c) BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to land de3 scribed in subsection (b), the historic site shall con4 sist of land and interests in land identified as 

5 Summerton High School and Scott’s Branch High 

6 School located in Clarendon County, South Carolina, 

7 after such land, or interests in land, is acquired by 

8 the Secretary and the determination is made under 

9 paragraph (2). 

10 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION BY SECRETARY.—The 

11 historic site shall not be expanded until the date on 

12 which the Secretary determines that a sufficient 

13 quantity of land, or interests in land, has been ac14 quired to constitute a manageable park unit. 

15 ‘‘(3) NOTICE.—Not later than 30 days after the 

16 date on which the Secretary makes a determination 

17 under paragraph (2), the Secretary shall publish in 

18 the Federal Register notice of the expansion of the 

19 historic site. 

20 ‘‘(4) MAP.—After the determination in sub21 section (2), the Secretary shall publish a new map 

22 of the historic site to include land or interests in 

23 land acquired under this subsection.’’. 

24 (5) In section 104— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘section 103(b)’’ and in2 serting ‘‘subsections (b) and (c) of section 

3 103’’; 

4 (B) by striking ‘‘: Provided, however, That 

5 the’’ and inserting ‘‘. The’’; and 

6 (C) by adding before the final period the 

7 following: ‘‘nor by condemnation of any land or 

8 interest in land within the boundaries of the 

9 historic site’’. 

10 (6) In section 105(c), by inserting before the 

11 final period the following: ‘‘in Topeka, Kansas. After 

12 the boundary adjustment under section 103(c), the 

13 Secretary shall prepare and submit to the Com14 mittee on Natural Resources of the House of Rep15 resentatives and the Committee on Energy and Nat16 ural Resources of the Senate a general management 

17 plan for the historic site locations in Clarendon 

18 County, South Carolina’’. 

19 (7) By inserting after section 105, the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘SEC. 106. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE BROWN V. BOARD OF 

22 EDUCATION AFFILIATED AREAS. 

23 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The locations associated with the 

24 three court cases included in Brown v. Board of Education 

25 of Topeka described in sections 102(a)(8), (9), and (10) 


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1 are established as affiliated areas of the National Park 

2 System. 

3 ‘‘(b) ADMINISTRATION.—The affiliated areas shall be 

4 managed in accordance with— 

5 ‘‘(1) this section; and 

6 ‘‘(2) any law generally applicable to units of the 

7 National Park System. 

8 ‘‘(c) GENERAL MANAGEMENT PLAN.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than two years 

10 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec11 retary, in consultation with the management entity 

12 of each affiliated area, shall develop a general man13 agement plan for each of the affiliated areas in ac14 cordance with section 100502 of title 54, United 

15 States Code. The general management plan shall— 

16 ‘‘(A) be prepared in consultation and co17 ordination with the interested State, county, 

18 and local governments, management entities, 

19 organizations, and interested members of the 

20 public associated with the affiliated area; 

21 ‘‘(B) identify, as appropriate, the roles and 

22 responsibilities of the National Park Service 

23 and management entity in administering and 

24 interpreting the affiliated area in such a man25 ner that it does not interfere with existing operVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Feb 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S270.IS S270

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1 ations and continued use of existing facilities; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(C) require the Secretary to coordinate 

4 the preparation and implementation of the 

5 management plan and interpretation of the af6 filiated area with the Brown v. Board of Edu7 cation National Historic Site. 

8 ‘‘(2) PUBLIC COMMENT.—The Secretary shall— 

9 ‘‘(A) hold not less than one public meeting 

10 in the general proximity of each affiliated area 

11 on the proposed general management plan, in12 cluding opportunities for public comment; and 

13 ‘‘(B) publish the draft general manage14 ment plan on the internet and provide an op15 portunity for public comment. 

16 ‘‘(3) TRANSMITTAL.—Not later than 3 years 

17 after the date on which funds are made available to 

18 carry out this section, the Secretary shall transmit 

19 the general management plan for each affiliated area 

20 developed under subparagraph (1) to the Committee 

21 on Natural Resources of the House of Representa22 tives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Re23 sources of the Senate. 

24 ‘‘(d) MANAGEMENT ENTITY.—The organizations de25 scribed in paragraphs (8), (9), and (10) of section 102(a) 


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1 shall be the management entity for its respective affiliated 

2 area. 

3 ‘‘(e) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary 

4 may provide technical assistance and grants and enter into 

5 cooperative agreements with the management entity for 

6 each affiliated area to provide financial assistance for the 

7 marketing, marking, interpretation, and preservation of 

8 the respective affiliated area. 

9 ‘‘(f) LAND USE.—Nothing in this section affects land 

10 use rights of private property owners within or adjacent 

11 to the affiliated areas, including activities or uses on pri12 vate land that can be seen or heard within the affiliated 

13 areas and the authorities for management entities to oper14 ate and administer the affiliated areas. 

15 ‘‘(g) LIMITED ROLE OF THE SECRETARY.—Nothing 

16 in this section authorizes the Secretary to acquire property 

17 in an affiliated area or to assume overall financial respon18 sibility for the operation, maintenance, or management of 

19 an affiliated area. Each affiliated area shall continue to 

20 be owned, operated, and managed by its respective public 

21 and private owners.’’. 

22 (8) By redesignating section 106 as section 

23 107. 

24 (9) In section 107 (as so redesignated by this 

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1 lowing: ‘‘at the historic site, and there is authorized 

2 to be appropriated such sums as are necessary to 

3 carry out sections 103(c) and 106’’. 

Æ 


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