Pittsburgh School Desegregation Project (Pa.)

The Pittsburgh chapter of the American Civil Liberty Foundation disagreed with the plan for desegregation in Pittsburgh's schools based on the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act. On September 28, 1978, Carletta Washington et al. filed a class-action suit against the School District of Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Board of Education, and the Superintendent of Schools. The suit required the defendants to develop a local plan for system-wide desegregation of city schools. The suit alleged that the schools were in fact segregated, and according to the U.S. Constitution, this was an infringement of citizen's rights. The case became known as Washington et al. vs. the Pittsburgh School Board of Education. Helen Seager was hired by the American Civil Liberties Union to conduct research, garner public support, and keep the defendants informed. Her research became part of the class-action civil suit "Factual Allegations" section. The Pittsburgh Chapter of the American Civil Liberty Foundation joined forces with local churches to aid in the desegregation of Pittsburgh's schools. The intent of the Pittsburgh School Desegregation Project wasn't to come up with a specific proposal for desegregation, but to force the school board to come up with one that would be equitable for all. The final disposition of the case cannot be determined from the documents, but ultimately, federal action banned segregation because it violated constitutional rights. This in essence backed up the civil case.