Influence of Hometowns On Student Leaders
This page provides a contextual reference to the ideas that many of the senior leaders may have been influenced by during their time at Episcopal. Following the Brown vs Board decision in 1954, senior leaders at Episcopal found themselves in a unique situation, seeing that they themselves were isolated from integration; however, for many, their hometowns were experiencing either the push for or resistance to integration. By examing the major reactions of citizens to integration in Virginia and North Carolina, two states that produced a majority of the student leaders, our group sought to contextualize the variety of opinions towards integration within the Episcopal community.
Following the Brown vs. Board of Education decision, conservative leaders in Virginia responded with a movement of fierce massive resistance. This movement led to the shutting down of schools across Virginia, and a steep rise in racial tension. Senator Harry F. Byrd was a key figure in support of segregation and he promoted what was known as the "Southern Manifesto", which opposed integration of Virginia Schools.(1) Massive resistance was extremely impactful in a few areas in particular such as Prince Edward County and Norfolk. In 1958, schools in Norfolk, Warren, and Charlottesville closed in protest of integration, but were later court mandated to reopen their doors. While keeping their public schools closed against court orders, Prince Edward County created segregationist private schools that offered educational opportunities to white students, leaving the county's black youth without access to education, some losing years worth of schooling due to the county's opposition to integration.(2) This group of youth are known as the "lost" generation. Prince Edward kept their school doors closed from 1959 until 1964.(3) However, the decision to integrate came from court pressure, not the citizens of Prince Edward.
The state of Virginia in particular had a very large impact on Episcopal students, seeing as it is one of the oldest high schools in Viriginia, and it also places a large emphasis on tradition and honor. Episcopal, in the years following Brown vs. Board, drew large numbers of its student leaders from Virginia, totaling 27 monitors in 1954 and 1955. Episcopal did not integrate until 1968, over a decade after the Brown vs. Board decision. The resilience of a white's only tradition left Episcopal behind on the path to integration.
1. James H. Hershman Jr., “Massive Resistance,” Encyclopedia Virginia, June 29,2011,https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Massive_Resistance#start_entry.
2. Katy June-Frieson, “Massive Resistance in Small Towns,” National Endowment for the Humanities, 2013, https://www.neh.gov/humanities/2013/septemberoctober/feature/massive-resistance-in-small-town.
3. “Desegregation of Virginia Education,” Old Dominion University, April, 2018, https://www.odu.edu/library/special-collections/dove/timeline.
As the Civil Rights Movement gained momentum post-Brown vs. Board, young African American protesters started to make a mark on not only the South but the nation. In 1960, four African American students later named the Greensboro Four, staged the first sit-in protest at a segregated lunch counter called Woolworth’s in Greensboro, North Carolina. Ezell Blair Jr., David Richmond, Franklin McCain, and Joseph McNeil, college students at the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, were brought together by the murder of Emmett Till, a teenager who was murdered for allegedly whistling at a white woman in a Mississippi store. These four men were inspired to take action after watching Till's murderers go free.
On February 1st, 1960, the Greensboro Four refused to leave the lunch counter after being denied service; the official policy of the establishment at this time was to serve only those who were white. After police were unable to take any action, the four students stayed until the store closed, and returned the next day with a swarm of fellow classmates. Not long after the protest was brought to the media’s attention, the sit-in was televised for all of America to see. By February 5th, over 300 white and black students were protesting for desegregation, and several Northern and Southern college towns began to peacefully protest against segregation in various establishments. A number of people were arrested for trespassing, disorderly conduct, and disturbing the peace at this time. The lunch counters and local businesses were challenged by nonviolent protestors and by the summer of 1960 EHS students from North Carolina and people around the world saw a battle for human dignity and equality taking place in locations very familiar to them.
Not only did the Greensboro sit-in make an immediate impact on the Civil Rights Movements, but a long-lasting one as well. The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was created in Raleigh, NC, in April 1960 to take advantage of the progress that was made by the Greensboro Four. SNCC was a leading force in the Civil Rights Movement and collaborated with the NAACP, organized Freedom Rides in the South, and the March on Washington in 1963, where Martin Luther King, Jr. made his most famous speech.
1. “Civil Rights Greensboro.” UNCG Digital Collections, libcdm1.uncg.edu/cdm/essaygreensboroschools/collection/CivilRights.
2. Edwards, Owen. “Courage at the Greensboro Lunch Counter.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 1 Feb. 2010, www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/courage-at-the-greensboro-lunch-counter-4507661/.
3. “Greensboro Four: David Richmond, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair Jr. (Jibreel Khazan), Joe McNeil.” Greensboro Four | NCpedia, www.ncpedia.org/history/20th-Century/greensboro-four.
4. “Sit-in at Lunch Counter | Photograph.” Wisconsin Historical Society, 1 Dec. 2003, www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Image/IM2381.
5. “SNCC and White Liberal Participation in Anti-Racist Movements.” Bunk, www.bunkhistory.org/resources/917?related=2274&relationship_name=RELATED.
This map illustrates the various towns in which Episcopal's monitor student leaders came from. The blue markers stand for the monitors of the class of 1954 and the purple markers stand for the monitors of the class of 1955. This map helps to show the impact that home towns had on the opinions and perspectives of the all boarding Episcopal students.