Hockessin, Del. – Today, U.S. Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) gave remarks at the Brown v. Board of Education Day event at Hockessin Colored School #107C. The event highlighted the courage of those who fought to desegregate public schools in Delaware and across the nation. It also emphasized the school’s important role in this historic court ruling.
In the 117th Congress, along with U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Blunt Rochester co-led the bipartisan Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park Expansion and Redesignation Act. This legislation authorized three sites in Delaware – Hockessin Colored School #107 in Hockessin, Howard High School in Wilmington, and Claymont High School in Claymont – as “affiliated areas” of the National Park Service, given their historic significance. Blunt Rochester joined former President Joe Biden at the White House when he signed this legislation into law in May 2022. In January 2025, former Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland officially designated the sites, the final step in the law’s implementation.
The school was at the center of the 1952 Delaware court case Bulah v. Gebhart which was eventually folded into the larger Brown v. Board of Education decision. The landmark Brown decision overturned the Supreme Court’s decision in Plessy v. Ferguson, holding that the previous “separate but equal” doctrine violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Blunt Rochester’s full remarks at the event can be found below, as delivered:
Thank you, Doctor, for that kind introduction, and thank you to the Friends of the Hockessin Colored School for hosting this important event. You know, I have a beautifully written thing here that I will read but I’m just trying to take in this moment. Thank you to the students for being here, it is good to see you again. It’s beautiful to see you again, one more time! Y’all look good. You look beautiful, it’s good to see you. To the entire board, David, Doctor, the entire team here, it is really special to be here and to have this room filled. I’m just really trying to take it all in, especially at this moment in our history.
It’s almost like a reunion, seeing many of you. And I think part of it is because many of you have been on the journey, have been soldiers in this effort for equity and for justice, and for opportunity. And so, I thank everyone who is gathered, on behalf of our congressional delegation. Bryon Short was recognized on behalf of Congresswoman McBride’s office and then Senator Chris Coons I know has been a champion for this school as well so if you could please show some support for them.
Today, we gather and reflect on the legacy of Brown v. Board of Education, on the legacy of Hockessin Colored School #107C, and what it means to our community and to our nation. Today is the 71st anniversary of the landmark case that told the rest of America what we already knew: separate is not equal. Today is a day of rejoicing over the progress that we’ve made over 70 years while reflecting on this current moment. And there’s no better place — I can think of no better place to reflect on the significance of this milestone than right here on this land. This site has seen many lives, as the doctor just shared. And so, for me to be able to be with some of the students at the White House where legislation was [signed into law], to be able to know that the Park Service has now made this a national historic site — that’s incredible, that’s Delaware, that’s this school’s history. And while it has lived many lives, it has always been a place of learning, education, growth, and community. It has always been deeply tied to progress.
History was made here. This is where students like Shirley Bulah and Sonny used hand-me-down books to get their education. But what wasn’t a hand-me-down, was the power of the parents, the communities, and the families that made this possible. This is where the battle for school integration was fought, not only in our state but in our country. This is where it took root, where courageous men and women took the opportunity to stand up for what’s right. If not for the bravery of families like the Bulahs, the resolve of Louis Redding, the strength of Chancellor Seitz, we wouldn’t have Brown v. Board of Ed. And if not for them, children today would still be legally separated by the color of their skin. Right here. History was made over 70 years ago, and that history will continue to be deeply connected to this building.
But we also know as we speak, at this very moment, the administration is threatening the very fabric of our nation. Agencies that maintain historic sites, like this one, are being threatened. Literally, maybe a week ago, I woke up to go to the Library of Congress after hearing about the Librarian of Congress being stripped of her position. Anything that uses the words “diversity, equity, and inclusion” [is] threatened. Our very rights are threatened.
Just this week, the Supreme Court heard the case that could undermine birthright citizenship and gut judicial review. It is part of an attack on our Constitution. And we are still seeing attempts to erase our history and silence the past, to write a more restrictive and regressive future. But let’s be clear: 107C stands strong, and so do we. We have been here before. And this building gives us hope. Because it is more than a few bricks — it is a symbol, it is a symbol, it is a testament to the power of community, especially in moments of challenge or hardship or uncertainty. It is a place of strength and a stark reminder that our actions, our actions, our individual and collective actions, can and will reverberate for generations. I stand before you, as your senator, because you came before me. Because people stood up and fought for it.
So, today, as we celebrate — ‘cause we will celebrate, oh, we will celebrate — as we celebrate Brown v. the Board of Education, let’s embody the bravery of the Bulahs, let us resolve to the strength of Louis Redding, and let us also remember the incredible courage of Chancellor Seitz.
And I’ll leave you with this one last thing. About a week ago, I was in Dover. I went to say happy birthday to a woman who — she graduated from Delaware State University, she went through segregation, she went through Jim Crow, she went through World War II, she turned 107 years old. And I remember asking her, “Ms. Browne, how did you make it through all of that?” And you know what she said? “One day at a time.”
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Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester represents Delaware in the United States Senate where she serves on the Committees on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; Commerce, Science, and Transportation; Environment and Public Works; and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.