Southern Stalemate: Five Years without Public Education in Prince Edward County, Virginia
Christopher Bonastia
Abstract
In 1959, Virginia's Prince Edward County closed its public schools rather than obey a court order to desegregate. For five years, black children were left to fend for themselves while the courts decided if the county could continue to deny its citizens public education. Investigating this remarkable and nearly forgotten story of local, state, and federal political confrontation, the book recounts the test of wills that pitted resolute African Americans against equally steadfast white segregationists in a battle over the future of public education in America. Beginning in 1951 when black high s ... More
In 1959, Virginia's Prince Edward County closed its public schools rather than obey a court order to desegregate. For five years, black children were left to fend for themselves while the courts decided if the county could continue to deny its citizens public education. Investigating this remarkable and nearly forgotten story of local, state, and federal political confrontation, the book recounts the test of wills that pitted resolute African Americans against equally steadfast white segregationists in a battle over the future of public education in America. Beginning in 1951 when black high school students protested unequal facilities and continuing through the return of whites to public schools in the 1970s and 1980s, the book describes the struggle over education during the civil rights era and the human suffering that came with it, as well as the inspiring determination of black residents to see justice served.
Keywords:
local politics,
state politics,
federal politics,
African Americans,
white segregationists,
civil rights
Bibliographic Information
Print publication date: 2012 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780226063898 |
Published to Chicago Scholarship Online: March 2013 |
DOI:10.7208/chicago/9780226063911.001.0001 |