Join the DC History Center for a highly anticipated lecture from historian Tikia K. Hamilton about her new book Nothing Less Than Equality: The Battle over Segregated Education in the Nation’s Capital.
School desegregation was not inevitable. Before the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education and its companion case in DC, Bolling v. Sharpe, Black Washingtonians built a remarkable school system for their children. Led by outstanding educators with a curriculum designed for Black students, some local activists argued that the issue wasn’t segregation; it was a need for resources to address overcrowding, crumbling facilities, and lack of materials and supplies. Some Black Washingtonians believed that the federal government should be compelled, instead, to fulfill its own Jim Crow mandate of “separate but equal,” ensuring that Black schools received the same resources as white schools.
We know about the legacy of desegregation. But this complex, lesser-known history complicates the questions and pushes us to think differently about “equality” both in the past and in our schools today. Join the DC History Center on Tuesday, March 31 to welcome Dr. Tikia K. Hamilton, whose work informed and shaped our exhibit Class Action: Education and Opportunity in the Nation’s Capital.
Purchase a book at checkout ($34.45, including tax) to be picked up during the program. Purchasing the book through registration supports our mission. Add a donation during checkout to show your support for our Class Action programming.
Dr. Tikia K. Hamilton’s first book is entitled Nothing Less Than Equality: The Battle Over Segregated Education in the Nation’s Capital. Published by the University of Chicago Press, the book spans across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and chronicles the various campaigns African Americans waged to obtain equal resources under segregation in Washington, D.C. The book is attentive to the challenges of coalition-building in what was once regarded as “the mecca” of Black educational excellence and illustrates the various strategies Black parents, teachers, students, civic leaders, and civil rights attorneys pursued in the decades leading up to Brown v. Board of Education.
Tikia K. Hamilton is an Assistant Professor of History at Loyola University Chicago. Her research and courses focus on African American History. Dr. Hamilton holds a Ph.D. in History from Princeton University and a masters in African American Studies from Columbia University. She attended Dartmouth College for her undergraduate work, where she majored in History under a Mellon Fellowship. She has lengthy experience teaching at the secondary and undergraduate levels and working as an educational consultant.
Dr. Hamilton is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Spencer Fellowship from the National Academy of Education. She currently serves as the foundational chair of the Diversity Committee at Loyola. She worked as a consultant for the DC History Center’s current exhibit Class Action: Education and Opportunity in the Nation’s Capital (2025-2030). In 2025, she was also named as one of “Top 40 Women Making a Difference in Academe” by Diversity: Issues in Higher Education. She owns and operates Triple Ivy Writing and Educational Solutions.
Class Action explores how DC’s Black communities advocated for educational opportunities for their children. Follow your curiosity and deepen your understanding of DC history through educational book talks, game nights, panel discussions, documentary screenings, and more, throughout the year. Connect with family, meet your neighbors, and play with new friends at lively programs meant to encourage civic engagement and inspire you to make a difference in your community.
Nothing Less Than Equality: The Battle over Segregated Education in the Nation’s Capital by author Tikia K. Hamilton. Purchase your own copy when you register!
Author Tikia K. Hamilton, PhD
Star Collection, DC Public Library © The Washington Post