The Stouffer Foudation
After the Supreme Court’s verdict in the Brown vs. Board of Education case in 1954, forced integration in public schools by stating that “separate but equal” was in fact not equal, enrollment of private schools in the south increased exponentially. At this time some southern governors, like George C. Wallace and Harry F. Byrd, led an expansive “Massive Resistance” against integration of races. During Wallace’s inaugural address in 1963, he reassured Alabamians that he would protect their children in the “very Heart of the Great Anglo-Saxon Southland, … [and] draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny . . . and [said] . . . segregation today . . . segregation tomorrow . . . segregation forever.” This severe resistance to integrating education prevented Southern prep schools from considering integration until over ten years after the Brown vs Board decision was made. In 1967, Anne C. Forsyth created the first foundation that sent African Americans to elite southern boarding schools. Over the ten years the foundation existed, 142 Stouffer Scholars attended schools in 13 southern states, ranging from Virginia to Alabama to Florida.
Anthony Chase '73 on the Stouffer Foundation:
On the Stouffer Foundation's Integration Experiment:
When discussing how he felt white students viewed integration at Episcopal, Mr. Chase responded by saying that "the black students at the various schools [where Stouffer scholars attended] were there to satisfy a need white students had. In other words, it wasn't for us, we were there for them." Also, he described that "in many ways [the African American students] were an experiment for the school", and that integration at Episcopal was not fully accepted in the early days.
Sandy Ainslie (Headmaster 1981-1998) Discusses the Stouffer Foundation:
