When I envisioned this trip, I had thoughts that we might spend a day or so in each state as we headed north to North Dakota. As it turned out, I couldn’t find much to do in the states “on the way,” but plenty of good sites in South and North Dakota. Thus today was largely about getting closer to South Dakota, but we did have a couple of interesting stops.
Most of our study of American history in the past years has focused on the 17th and 18th centuries, particularly looking at settlers, wars, and presidents. Our first stop today concerned an important judicial case in the 20th century. When Linda Brown was forbidden from attending a neighborhood school in Topeka, Kansas, her father filed suit in what eventually came before the U.S. Supreme Court as Brown v. the Board of Education. The court unanimously ruled that separate is not equal and that segregation was illegal. Linda Brown’s school is now a national historic site.
Kids in front of Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site
The historical event that is most prominent in our preparation and visits this year is the expedition of Lewis and Clark. Without anticipating this year’s trip, I read Undaunted Courage last year and was better prepared to enjoy the sites and teach the family. Our first Lewis and Clark stop was along the Missouri River at Nebraska City where a beautiful visitor’s center holds 122 (stuffed) animals, 178 plants, and replicas of a keelboat and pirogue. We enjoyed hiking out to a vista point near the river.
Prairie dog village reconstruction
Keelboat replica constructed for National Geographic special
We ended the day with dinner with a youth leader from our church who is spending the summer at home in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The boys really enjoyed the time with Jake!