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Our History
The building in which is the home to the Philadelphia Baptist Church in Merriam, Kansas was once known as the Madam C.J. Walker School, a building that is deeply rooted within the early history of the South Park community. Originally opened in the late 1800's as a part of the Johnson County School District No. 90, the school was first open to both black and white students. However, by the early 20th century, segregation would take hold of this small rural Kansas town. Black students were forced to remain at the run down Walker School while the white students attended a new school specifically built for them called "South Park Elementary School."
South Park Elementry
South Park Elementry
Multiple classrooms, cafeteria, indoor plumbing, new playground
Madam CJ Walker
Madam CJ Walker
Two room school house in a state of disrepair. Flooding basement and out houses
In response to the injustices that they were faced with, black families in the community took a stand. In 1948 parents would organize a boycott of the school that would come to be known as the "Walker Walkouts" and filed the landmark court case "Webb v. School District No. 90." With the support of the community they were able to successfully challenge segregation within Merriam's schools, resulting in a decision from the Kansas Supreme Court that forced integration. This victory made the Merriam community one of the first communities to legally desegregate their public schools and helped to lay the ground work for the historic Brown v. Board of Education decision years later that would end segregation in schools nation wide.
Important People
Corinthia Nutter
Corinthia Nutter
Corinthian Nutter was a teacher at the Walker School who refused to abandon her students during the boycott. She and other educators continued teaching continued
teaching children in her home, in churches, and in neighborhood spaces. She later explained her motivation simply: schools should be for children, not for color.
Esther Brown
Esther Brown
Esther Brown, a Jewish activist and civil rights organizer, helped galvanize the fight for equal
education in South Park. Shocked
by the conditions at the Walker School, she helped organize a local NAACP chapter and raise funds for the legal case. Despite harassment and threats, she remained committed to integration and
educational justice.
Alfonso Webb
Alfonso Webb
The Webb family played a central role in challenging segregation through the courts. By lending their name and their children to the lawsuit, they helped push the case forward despite resistance. Their actions demonstrated how families, working together, could demand change and reshape the future of education.
Legacy
The legacy of the Madam C.J. Walker School continues to shape not just the Merriam community but the broader American experience as well. Locally it stands as a reminder of the grassroots activism and the role in which ordinary citizens were able to play within the advancement of civil rights. On a national level it highlights how smaller communities contributed to the larger movement for equality within education in the United States.
Today as the site of the Philadelphia Baptist Church, the building remains as not just a place of worship but also a living piece of history displaying the the resilience and faith that is placed within the ongoing pursuit of equality.
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