Brown's Battleground : Students, Segregationists, and the Struggle for Justice in Prince Edward County, Virginia

When the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision in __Brown v. Board of Education__ in 1954, Prince Edward County, Virginia, home to one of the five cases combined by the Court under __Brown__, abolished its public school system rather than integrate. Jill Titus situates the crisis in Prince Edward County within the seismic changes brought by __Brown__ and Virginia's decision to resist desegregation. While school districts across the South temporarily closed a building here or there to block a specific desegregation order, only in Prince Edward did local authorities abandon public education entirely--and with every intention of permanence. When the public schools finally reopened after five years of struggle--under direct order of the Supreme Court--county authorities employed every weapon in their arsenal to ensure that the newly reopened system remained segregated, impoverished, and academically substandard. Intertwining educational and children's history with the history of the black freedom struggle, Titus draws on little-known archival sources and new interviews to reveal the ways that ordinary people, black and white, battled, and continue to battle, over the role of public education in the United States.

When the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, Prince Edward County, Virginia, home to one of the five cases combined by the Court under Brown, abolished its public school system rather than integrate.

Jill Titus situates the crisis in Prince Edward County within the seismic changes brought by Brown and Virginia's decision to resist desegregation. While school districts across the South temporarily closed a building here or there to block a specific desegregation order, only in Prince Edward did local authorities abandon public education entirely—and with every intention of permanence. When the public schools finally reopened after five years of struggle—under direct order of the Supreme Court—county authorities employed every weapon in their arsenal to ensure that the newly reopened system remained segregated, impoverished, and academically substandard. Intertwining educational and children's history with the history of the black freedom struggle, Titus draws on little-known archival sources and new interviews to reveal the ways that ordinary people, black and white, battled, and continue to battle, over the role of public education in the United States.

"When the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, Prince Edward County, Virginia, home to one of the five cases combined by the Court under Brown, abolished its public school system rather than integrate. Jill Titus situates the crisis in Prince Edward County within the seismic changes brought by Brown and Virginia's decision to resist desegregation. While school districts across the South temporarily closed a building here or there to block a specific desegregation order, only in Prince Edward did local authorities abandon public education entirely--and with every intention of permanence. When the public schools finally reopened after five years of struggle--under direct order of the Supreme Court--county authorities employed every weapon in their arsenal to ensure that the newly reopened system remained segregated, impoverished, and academically substandard. Intertwining educational and children's history with the history of the black freedom struggle, Titus draws on little-known archival sources and new interviews to reveal the ways that ordinary people, black and white, battled, and continue to battle, over the role of public education in the United States"-- Provided by publisher MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict Title Page 4 Contents 8 Acknowledgments 12 Introduction: Moton High, 1951 18 1 Seizing the Offensive 28 2 We Suffered Our Children to Be Destroyed 55 3 Friends in the Struggle 73 4 The Greatest Gift We Ever Shall Receive 84 5 Digging Up Some Liberals 112 6 The Long Hot Summer, 1963 138 7 Washington, D.C., Meets Farmville 150 8 The Law Has Spoken 177 9 Standing Together 194 10 Moton High, 1969 210 11 Carrying On 221 Conclusion: Victors or Victims? 235 Notes 240 Bibliography 276 Index 288 A 288 B 288 C 289 D 289 E 290 F 290 G 290 H 291 I 291 J 291 K 291 L 291 M 292 N 292 O 293 P 293 Q 294 R 294 S 295 T 295 U 295 V 295 W 296 Y 296