Aaron Wolfe

Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

June 21, 2013

Massive Resistance, the Lost Class of 1959, and the

Norfolk 17

Value Tensions: conflict between two equally desirable goals

Law – EthicsCommon Wealth – Private Wealth

Unity – DiversityFreedom – Equality

The Great Debate

Freedom: power, rights, and privileges enjoyed by an individual or group.

Too much

freedom for some can threaten equality for all. But the quest for equality can limit individual freedoms. How do we find a balance?

Equality: identical treatment in society. The availability of opportunities and shared common wealth that arise from a shared sense of reciprocal duty.

Freedom - Equality

23 April 1951 - Under the leadership of Barbara Johns, students at the all-black Robert Russa Moton High School in the town of Farmville in Prince Edward County walk out of their school to protest the unequal conditions of their education.

23 May 1951 - The NAACP files suit to end segregation in the Prince Edward County schools. The case: Davis, et. al. v. County School Board of Prince Edward County, Virginia

17 May 1954 – The Supreme Court, in a 9-0 decision in the case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, declares segregation in public schools unconstitutional

http://www.lva.virginia.gov/exhibits/radio/audio/stanley_segregation.mp3 Radio address by Gov. Thomas Stanley, 17 May ,1954

Background

Enactment of state laws eliminating funding—or closing—integrated public schools, and allowing the state to seize and close any school that dares to integrate.

The power to assign students to specific schools is removed from local school boards and placed in a state-wide board of appointees who refuse to assign any black child to a previously all-white school.

Tax credits are also granted to parents who send their children to segregated private schools.

When the Court of Appeals overturns the law allowing the state to close integrated schools, the legislature repeals the state-wide compulsory school-attendance law. In effect, this means that counties are no longer required to provide public schools, and they can choose to close their schools if they wish to do so.

Massive Resistance, 1955

http://www.crmvet.org/tim/timhis54.htm

http://www2.vcdh.virginia.edu/civilrightstv/wdbj/segments/WDBJ1_09-high.html

Interposition

Approximately 10,000 students in Norfolk Public Schools

The “Lost Class” of 1959

Response Governor J. Lindsay Almond responds to the

court rulings that the Massive resistance laws are unconstitutional, 20 January 1959

http://www.lva.virginia.gov/exhibits/radio/audio/Gov_Almond_Defiance%28clip%29.mp3

Court Ruling19 January 1959 - Both the Virginia

Supreme Court of Appeals and the United States District Court overturn the decision of Virginia governor J. Lindsay Almond Jr. to close schools in Front Royal, Charlottesville, and Norfolk.

2 February 1959- Norfolk schools open, with 17 students integrating 6 schools

http://www.littlejohnexplorers.com/jeff/brown/imagesfromfilm/lostclassgranby.jpg

The “Lost Class” of 1959"My world and all of our worlds had changed,

and it was through no fault of our own," - Suzanne Shipp Owens, Granby High School

"That was so hard. We were used to our core friends," I started first grade with so many of the people I should have graduated with.“ - Suzanne Baker Horton, Norview High School

The “Lost Class” of 1959

“The actions of that year changed so many lives, not just the loss of proms, football games, sodas with old friends at the familiar hangouts, but the scattering of classmates that took place, trying to find a school to attend, and for some, disjointedness.” – June West Austin, Granby HS

The “Lost Class” of 1959

Northside Jr. High SchoolGeraldine Talley Hobby

Maury High School Louis Cousins  

Granby High School Betty Jean Reed  

Blair Jr. High School Lolita PortisReginald Young  

Norview Jr. High School LaVera Forbes James Turner Jr. Patricia Turner Edward Jordan Claudia Wellington

Norview High SchoolAndrew HeidelbergAlvarez Frederick GonsoulandDelores Johnson BrownJohnnie RouseOlivia Driver LindsayCarol Wellington Patricia Godbolt

The Norfolk 17

The Norfolk 17, the African-American students who broke the color barrier in Norfolk public schools

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An Associated Press photograph of Louis Cousins, Maury High School

http://www.chrysler.org/about-the-museum/historic-houses/special-exhibitions/lessons-of-massive-resistance

Alveraze Gonsouland sits in class on Feb. 2, 1959, his first day at Norview High School.

http://hamptonroads.com/2012/02/back-focus-found-photos-norfolk-17#

LaVera Forbes, Claudia Wellington, and Edward Jordan at Norview Jr. High School, February 2, 1959

http://hamptonroads.com/2012/02/back-focus-found-photos-norfolk-17

End of Massive Resistance25 May 1964- In Griffin v. County School

Board of Prince Edward County, U.S. Supreme Court unanimously rules that Prince Edward County Schools’ decision to close all local, public schools and provide vouchers to attend private schools were constitutionally impermissible as violations of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Virginia Historical SocietyOld Dominion UniversityLibrary of VirginiaChrysler Museum (Norfolk, VA)

WHROTV (Norfolk, VA)Virginian-Pilot

Resources

Aaron WolfeEmail: awolfe@cwf.orgPhone: 757-220-7186

Twitter: @historywolfe

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