Doctoral Thesis / Dissertation from the year 2010 in the subject Philosophy - Philosophy of the Present, grade: 6.0, University of Idaho, language: English, abstract: This study examined the life of Charles Sumner, an early civil rights, school integration activist in Massachusetts and, later, as the anti-slavery pro education advocate in Congress before and after the Civil War. The study design was historical and integrated the legal Bluebook citation system with the more traditional American Psychological Association (APA) dissertation format, a format departure designed to encourage interdisciplinary research, in this case law and educational leadership. The study focus was on early school integration efforts and the concept of diverse learning communities, a term used to describe Sumner's social justice philosophy. Sumner argued the first school integration case in the United States: Roberts v City of Boston, 1849. While he lost that case, it set in motion abolition sentiment in the north and fueled Sumner's dedication to repealing the Fugitive Slave Act, supporting school integration, and advancing equal rights. As an orator, his outspoken and eloquent vision of integrated public common schools resonant with modern k-12 education. His civil rights influence was important to the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment and his legacy would finally be acknowledged by Chief Justice Earl Warren as dicta in Brown v Board of Education. The study concluded with four conclusions and fourteen recommendations, with implications directed toward k-12 school administrators, higher education policy makers, and law school curriculums.