In 1951, two African American schools, Howard High School, and an elementary school in two different towns petitioned. The black high school students went long distances to attend their high school, which was in very poor physical shape, as well as lacking in education. The size of each class was a problem and the qualifications of the teachers grew to be a problem as well.  They wanted to go to the nearby white school, but legally could not. Eight of the parents of these kids contacted Louis Redding, of the NAACP, and asked for help. He had urged the parents to try to convince the school officials to let them enroll their kids in the local white high school. When parents asked officials if their kids could attend the local white school, they were denied entry into the school.  Redding then took their case.

           In Hockessin, Sarah Bulah had to sometimes drive her child two miles to an old black elementary school, while a bus full of white children would drive past her house every day. When Sarah Bulah, on behalf of her daughter who attended the elementary school, asked officials for a bus to transport her daughter, she was told no, because black children could not ride on the same bus as white children. Because of this she decided to contact Louis Redding, who combined her case with the Howard High School one. 

        Both cases wanted integration because the black schools were not very good and were far away. The case failed in district court but was appealed to the US Supreme Court. Ethel Louise Belton was the lead plaintiff in the Belton V. Gebhart case