CONTENT WARNING
Materials in the Library of Virginia’s collections contain historical terms, phrases, and images that are offensive to modern readers. These include demeaning and dehumanizing references to race, ethnicity, and nationality; enslaved or free status; physical and mental ability; and gender and sexual orientation.
Context
On May 17, 1954, after nearly two decades of legal challenges against racial segregation in public schools and higher education, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka that school segregation was unconstitutional. Their decision paved the way for desegregation of educational institutions. Prior to Brown v. Board of Education decision, legal segregation had existed under the "separate but equal" doctrine. However, the separate educational facilities and opportunities the Southern states offered to Black Americans were inferior, not equal, to those designed for white Americans. In 1956, Virginia's General Assembly adopted a policy of Massive Resistance, using the law and courts to obstruct desegregation and to not comply with changes which were being made nationwide in response to Brown v. Board of Education. Virginian's reactions to Brown v. Board of Education were varied -- while some approved the decision enthusiastically, there were also those who bitterly opposed it.
In 1957, in the midst of Virginia’s effort to maintain segregation in public schools, James Lindsay Almond Jr., won the gubernatorial election by pledging to uphold Massive Resistance. In September 1958, he closed schools in Charlottesville, Front Royal, and Norfolk rather than see them segregated. By January 1959, both the federal court and state supreme court demanded that schools be reopened, and Massive Resistance laws overturned. Almond continued to appeal these rulings, however the closed schools ultimately reopened to an integrated student body. The courts ordered the admittance of small numbers of Black students into formally all-white schools around the state. The federal government put more and more pressure on the state to integrate its schools and the Departments of Health, Education, and Welfare threatened localities with loss of federal funding if they did not comply.
However, Prince Edward County officials defied these court orders and on June 26, 1959, the county board of supervisors voted to cut off revenues to the public schools. Prince Edward County was the only locality in the nation to take this step. County officials were heavily encouraged by segregationists across the state and the South to close schools and remove funding for public education. The schools did not open on September 10 as scheduled. The schools in the county remained closed for the next five years. While white students attended the new private school, Prince Edward Academy, Black students were left with no educational facilities. Some local churches provided rudimentary education and some Black students attended classes in nearby counties, or, with the aid of Quaker-affiliated American Friends Service Committee, relocated to other areas. However, most Black students had no form of education and most Black teachers lost their jobs.
The letter from the Baptist Ministers Conference asked the General Assembly to reopen the public schools as the lack of education would have a potentially devastating impact on the young Black students across the state. They also asked that Jim Crow laws be removed as well as they were unfair to the Black community and were rendered non-enforceable based on court rulings. Legal battles for the schools to reopen and integrate continued from 1959 to 1964. The legal cases attracted national attention. Finally, on May 25, 1964, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Griffin v. County School Board of Prince Edward that the county had violated the students’ right to an education and ordered the schools to be reopened.
Citation: Letter from Baptist Ministers’ Conference of Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Vicinity, to Governor J. Lindsay Almond Jr., Richmond. January 19, 1960. Virginia, Governor (1958 – 1962), Executive Papers, 1958-1962, Accession 26230, State Government Records Collection, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.
Standards
Suggested Questions
Preview Activity
Scan It: Scan the transcript of the speech. What words of phrases stand out to you?
Post Activities
Virginia Validation: Virginia often seems to be in the spotlight for much larger, national issues. Why do you think Virginia has had such a long and varied history near the center of political and social conflict?
Current Connections: Do you think all students receive an equal education today in the United States? Why or why not?
Food for Thought: Imagine you were a student in Prince Edward County when the schools were closed. Would you have been able to receive an education? If so, how?