At 105 years old, Leola Brown Montgomery still draws smiles, applause and amazement everywhere she goes.
Montgomery, the widow of Rev. Oliver Brown — the lead plaintiff in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case — attended the 72nd anniversary celebration banquet in Topeka on May 17, where the audience rose together to sing “Happy Birthday” in honor of her 105th birthday.
Asked how she is doing at 105, Montgomery smiled and answered simply: “I don’t have any aches and pains. I just move slow.”
Her family’s role in history began when attorney Charles Scott encouraged her husband to join the legal challenge against segregated schools in Topeka. Oliver Brown agreed after discussing it with Leola, who believed they should fight for better opportunities for their daughter, Linda Brown.
At the time, Linda had to walk several blocks to catch a bus to the segregated Monroe Elementary School, even though white schools were much closer to their home.
Over the decades, Montgomery has continued sharing the story of Brown v. Board with students and audiences across the country, reminding people the case was about more than one family. As she often says, the Browns fought “for the rights of all people.”
