Kalamazoo School Case

Near here, in 1858, Kalamazoo’s first high school was opened. Fifteen years later the right of the school board to levy taxes to support a high school was challenged. A unanimous decision of the Michigan Supreme Court, rendered by Justice Thomas M. Cooley in 1874, affirmed an opinion of Kalamazoo Circuit Judge Charles R. Brown that upheld this right. As a result, the way opened for free high schools in Michigan and also in other states.

Plaque via Michigan History Center