Fifty years have passed since one of the most important and influential court cases in American history was decided.

On May17, 1954, the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kan., decision by the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed intentionally segregated schools, starting a domino effect that changed public education in the United States forever.

While it took Columbus 23 more years to desegregate its public schools, the time frame was not indicative of the work being done to bring equal opportunities to all races.

“There were talks about wanting to desegregate the public schools dating back to the 1960s,” said Robert Duncan, the retired federal judge who presided over the case and is now a member of the Ohio State Board of Trustees. “We always hoped that this would be settled out of court, but some people apparently got tired of waiting.”

Growing resentment by many black families led to the 1973 federal lawsuit accusing public schools of discriminating against black students and not meeting their needs.

Many other similar and successful lawsuits had been filed around the country, all claiming segregated schools violated the 14th Amendment, which stated all Americans are allowed equal rights and privileges.

Although the Columbus case was set to argue the same issues, Duncan was not sure what to expect at the trial.

“I honestly had no idea how this case would play out,” Duncan said. “So much of it came down to how well the lawyers argued their cases that I wasn’t sure who would win.”

In 1979, Columbus stopped using neighborhood schools and instead turned to cross-town busing.

While the decision to bus for desegregation incited violence in many cities across the country, Columbus was mostly incident-free.

Duncan said it was not only because of how the case was handled by him, the lawyers and the media, but also because of the open-mindedness of Columbus citizens.

“I’d like to think that we were all smart enough and civilized enough to handle the situation properly.” Duncan said. “I was very open to people about being educated on what was going on in the trial and also realizing the potential impact this would have on the children of Columbus.”

Duncan said the decision was an important step in helping Columbus become a better city and helped it prepare for the next generations.

“This case was incredibly important for everyone in this city because it involved our most precious citizens – our children,” Duncan said. “They’re truly the future of this country and need to be viewed as such in our society.”

As the city became more comfortable with the ruling, many parents and school officials lobbied for the rule to be changed because of the inconvenience of busing.

“My children were being bused to different schools all over Columbus,” said Janet Downs, whose children attended Columbus public schools before and after the ruling. “I understood why the ruling was important for many students, but the system was making it very difficult to coordinate for myself and so many other families.”

In 1985, Duncan lifted his desegregation order, though only minor changes were made until 1996, when Columbus completely eliminated busing and returned to using neighborhood schools.

“If you’re going to have neighborhood schools, of course there are going to be some that are predominantly one race,” Duncan said. “However, the schools were no longer being segregated intentionally because of prejudice.”

Deborah Wills, who was a student, teacher and volunteer in the Columbus school district for almost 50 years, agreed things had changed dramatically since the 1977 decision.

“The ruling did its job of making things equal in our public schools,” Wills said. “But things have changed so significantly since then in terms of racial equality that I don’t believe there’s a need for busing anymore.”