Resources for Research on the Desegregation of Virginia Schools

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Warren County (Va.) Public School Records 

Warren County (Va.) Public School Records 

Creator Warren County (Va.) Public Schools
Description Includes school records and case histories for high school student plaintiffs, including the 1958 suit of Kilby v. Warren County School Board; School board minutes, 1946-1977; teacher term reports, 1924-1976; payrolls for teachers and pupil transportation, 1931-1943; files related to World War II Production Training and National Defense Training Program; school census, 1920, 1925; Superintendent’s record of teacher certificates, 1915-1941; files concerning applicants for admission to Front Royal High School by African American students; applicants for change in school assignment and test results, 1958-1961; school board correspondence and files; teacher reports (grades and attendance), 1946-1967; choice of school forms and applications for scholarships; and Pupil Placement Board material.
Call number Accession 44579 and 44610
Date from 1915
Date to 1976
Geographic school Warren County, VA
Size 4.5 cu. ft. (10 boxes and 5 vol.)
Access restrictions yes/no yes
Access restrictions Student information in these unprocessed materials may be RESTRICTED under the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. Please contact Archives Research Services prior to visiting the Library of Virginia.
Part Of larger collection yes/no no
Larger collection title
URL
Repository Library of Virginia
Repository address 800 East Broad Street, Richmond, VA 23219-8000
Repository contact name
Repository contact title Archives Reference Services
Repository contact email archdesk@lva.virginia.gov
Repository contact phone (804) 692-3888
DoveRegion region5
Subjects o    African American students

o    African Americans–Civil rights

o    High school students

o    Public schools

o    School integration

o    School integration–Massive resistance movement

o    Kilby, James Wilson, 1917-2003
Types o    Annual reports

o    Correspondence

o    Government papers

o    Legal documents

o    Minutes

o    Proceedings

o    Reports
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Virginia Education Association histories of various school systems in the Commonwealth, 1963 

Virginia Education Association histories of various school systems in the commonwealth, 1963 

Creator Virginia Education Association
Description Histories, 1963, of various school systems in Virginia compiled for the commemoration of the centennial celebration of the Virginia Education Association. Histories include discussion of both public and private education, photographs, reminiscences, statistics, correspondence, and other materials chronicling education. Papers include histories of some of the local education associations and general histories of Bedford and Frederick Counties and Hampton. Collection also includes the centennial issue of the Virginia Journal of Education (June 1963).
Call number Accession Number 29975
Date from 1963
Date to 1963
Geographic school Virginia
Size 3 boxes
Access restrictions yes/no no
Access restrictions
Part Of larger collection yes/no no
Larger collection title
URL http://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaead/published/lva/vi04227.html
Repository Library of Virginia
Repository address 800 East Broad Street, Richmond, VA 23219-8000
Repository contact name
Repository contact title Archives Reference Services
Repository contact email archdesk@lva.virginia.gov
Repository contact phone (804) 692-3888
DoveRegion region5
Subjects o    African American students

o    High school students

o    Middle school students

o    Private schools

o    Public schools

o    Race relations

o    School children

o    Virginia. Department of Education

o    Public schools–Virginia

o    Private schools–Virginia
Types o    Correspondence

o    Legal documents
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Newport News (Va.) School Board records 

Newport News (Va.) School Board Records 

Creator Newport News (Va.) School Board
Description Newport News (Va.) School Board Records, 1896-1973 (bulk 1950-1970), document management and expansion of school buildings and grounds, 1935-1973; administration of the Nursery School Project, a federally subsidized daycare program, 1943-1951; school integration, 1958-1968; the development of a kindergarten program, 1963-1973; financial audits, 1959-1971, and appointments to and resignations from the Board of School Trustees, 1896-1921, and the School Board, 1921-1958. Schools, buildings, and grounds records, 1935-1973, contain correspondence, memoranda, deeds, plats, building plans, excerpts of city council minutes pertaining to school buildings and grounds issues, and financial records. The records include three general files and individual files on 37 elementary schools and high schools and a technical college. Correspondence includes letters between the Superintendent of Schools and the City Manager. Nursery School Project records, 1943-1951, document administration of a federally funded daycare program. Records include memos and correspondence with the Federal Works Agency pertaining to the grant application and the rationale for the program, the hiring of staff and rental of property and purchase of supplies; correspondence with the City Manager pertaining to the city appropriation for the program; a letter of support for the program from the War Department, Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation, and reports on the number of mothers with children in various civil defense zones who were working and needed childcare or who had children and wanted to work and needed childcare. The records also document discussion of efforts to continue the program after federal funds were withdrawn in 1946. Integration records, 1958-1968, contain correspondence, memoranda, excerpts from city council minutes, newspaper clippings, pamphlets, and broadsides pertaining to school desegregation. They include memos about public safety and police presence, policies for the assignment and transfer of students, copies of legislation and court opinions, and correspondence and memos pertaining to implementation of a pupil placement plan approved by the Federal district court in 1960. Also included are memos about a lawsuit challenging the plan, dismissed in 1962; and a letter, 1968, from the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Office for Civil Rights about threatened enforcement procedures. These files also contain letters from the Executive Board of the Newport News chapter of the N.A.A.C.P. about inequities in the schools, a letter from the Peninsula Christian Ministers Association celebrating the peaceful transition to integrated schools, newspaper clippings of editorials about integration, Southern Regional Council literature, and examples of racist propaganda from the period. Kindergarten Program records, 1963-1973, document development of a kindergarten program that was implemented in the fall of 1972. They contain correspondence, including letters from citizens advocating for a kindergarten, newspaper clippings, excerpts of city council minutes, and directories of nursery schools and kindergartens in Newport News. Audits, 1959-1971, contain financial audit reports of the School Board and related correspondence. School Board appointments and resignations, 1896-1959, contain correspondence and city council minutes pertaining to appointments, resignations, recognition, and dismissal of appointees to the Board of School Trustees and the School Board.
Call number Barcode numbers 1017409, 1017410, 1017412
Date from 1896
Date to 1973 (bulk 1950-1970)
Geographic school Newport News, VA
Size 3 boxes
Access restrictions yes/no no
Access restrictions
Part Of larger collection yes/no no
Larger collection title
URL http://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=lva/vi04313.xml
Repository Library of Virginia
Repository address 800 East Broad Street, Richmond, VA 23219-8000
Repository contact name
Repository contact title Archives Reference Services
Repository contact email archdesk@lva.virginia.gov
Repository contact phone (804) 692-3888
DoveRegion region5
Subjects o    African Americans–Civil rights

o    African Americans–Segregation

o    Public schools

o    School integration

o    Segregation in education
Types o    Clippings

o    Correspondence

o    Legal documents
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WRVA Radio Collection

WRVA Radio Collection 

Creator WRVA Radio
Description The Library of Virginia’s WRVA Radio Collection covers three-quarters of a century, from the station’s founding to the end of the twentieth century. It includes a wide array of materials related to the history of WRVA, including incorporation files, memos, meeting minutes, FCC license renewal applications, and newsletters; materials about its programs and listener responses to its programs; information on specific employees and announcers such as Alden Aaroe, Bertha Hewlett, Tim Timberlake, and others; and publications promoting WRVA and the Richmond area market to advertisers. The collection also includes photographs; sound recordings; and numerous other documents and memorabilia items related to the station. The series of sound recordings included in the WRVA collection includes 637 CDs reformatted with funds provided by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. These recordings document an astonishing variety of programs, personalities, and events related to the radio station and its development. Popular musical programs and performers, including the Old Dominion Barn Dance and the Corn Cob Pipe Club, figure prominently in this collection, as do the station’s live reports and commentary on news events of local, state, national, and international significance between the 1930s and 1990s. Numerous special anniversary programs broadcast by the station provide a rich body of information on the station and its history, and feature synopses of important news events covered by WRVA throughout its history.
Call number none
Date from 1925
Date to 2000
Geographic school Virginia
Size ca. 48 cubic feet and 637 compact discs
Access restrictions yes/no no
Access restrictions
Part Of larger collection yes/no no
Larger collection title
URL
Repository Library of Virginia
Repository address 800 East Broad Street, Richmond, VA 23219-8000
Repository contact name
Repository contact title Archives Reference Services
Repository contact email archdesk@lva.virginia.gov
Repository contact phone (804) 692-3888
DoveRegion region5
Subjects o    Almond, J. Lindsay (James Lindsay), 1898-1986

o    Virginia–Politics and government

o    Radio broadcasting–Virginia
Types o    Broadcast-radio

o    Memorabilia

o    Minutes

o    Organizational Records

o    Photographs

o    Press releases
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Elizabeth City County (Va.) Schools correspondence 

Elizabeth City County (Va.) Schools correspondence 

Creator Elizabeth City County (Va.) Public Schools
Description Elizabeth City County (Va.) Schools Correspondence, 1918-1952, contains the general correspondence of Division Superintendents Robert M. Newton, Herbert M. Spain, and C. Aton Lindsay. It documents the administration of the Elizabeth City County, Hampton (City), and Phoebus (Town) school systems. The records also contain minutes of the Elizabeth City County Board of School Trustees, 1918-1921. The correspondence files include a petition from the Elizabeth City County Teachers?ó?.¼?.ó Association for equalization of teacher pay, 1940 Dec. 6; a letter, 1941 May 14, from attorney Oliver Hill regarding the petition, and a copy, with a few notes, of the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals (4th Circuit), banning discriminatory pay scales for teachers. Elizabeth City County (Va.) Schools Division Superintendent Correspondence, 1924-1952, contains general correspondence with teachers, principals, parents, students, teacher organizations, parent-teacher organizations, school board members, state education officials, attorneys, and vendors. The letters pertain to renovation and construction of schools and strategies for increasing taxes to pay for school construction; recruitment of teachers and student-teachers, parents and teachers lobbying to increase pay for teachers and coaches, inquiries about charging tuition for the children of military personnel at Fort Eustis and Fort Langley, and legal requirements for educating the children of immigrants. The correspondence files also contain annual reports, budgets, teacher contracts, lists of teachers and their salaries, and scattered ephemera, such as programs from high school commencements, plays, and concerts. Elizabeth City County (Va.) Board of School Trustees minutes, 1918-1921, document efforts to expand school construction in the district to accommodate a rapidly growing population. The minutes include correspondence with architects, proposed budgets, annual reports, memos and reports on the estimated costs of construction of four new schools, and information on teacher salaries in Newport News and Elizabeth City County.
Call number Barcode numbers 1048911-1048913, 1048915-1048916
Date from 1918
Date to 1952
Geographic school Elizabeth City County, VA; Hampton, VA; Phoebus, VA; Newport News, VA
Size 5 boxes
Access restrictions yes/no no
Access restrictions
Part Of larger collection yes/no no
Larger collection title
URL http://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=lva/vi04308.xml
Repository Library of Virginia
Repository address 800 East Broad Street, Richmond, VA 23219-8000
Repository contact name
Repository contact title Archives Reference Services
Repository contact email archdesk@lva.virginia.gov
Repository contact phone (804) 692-3888
DoveRegion region5
Subjects o    African Americans–Civil rights

o    Public schools

o    Hill, Oliver W., 1907-2007
Types o    Annual reports

o    Correspondence

o    Financial records

o    Government papers

o    Minutes

o    Organizational Records

o    Petitions

o    Reports
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Virginia Pupil Placement Board 

Virginia Pupil Placement Board 

Creator Commonwealth of Virginia
Description The Pupil Placement Board was created by an act of the General Assembly passed on September 29, 1956 as part of a program of “massive resistance” to federally ordered school desegregation. The act that created the board divested local school boards and division superintendents of their authority to determine the school to which a child might be admitted and placed all power of enrollment or placement with the Pupil Placement Board. This body consisted of three residents of Virginia who were appointed by the governor to serve during his term in office. Among the factors that the board was to consider in assigning particular pupils to particular schools were the efficient operation of the schools and the safety and welfare of the pupils. From the beginning of the board’s existence, its efforts to control pupil assignments were frustrated by decisions of the federal courts and by local school boards, which increasingly tended to ignore the board. On April 29, 1959 the General Assembly passed an act returning responsibility for school assignments to local authorities. Despite the loss of most of its power, the Pupil Placement Board continued to exist for seven more years until it was abolished by an act passed by the General Assembly in 1966. Collections consists of the following series: Routine applications, 1961-1966. Special applications relevant to inactive files, 1959-1966. Special applications, 1959-1966, 1964-1966 (bulk). Correspondence and subject files, 1958-1966. Minutes, 1958-1966. Legal files, 1958-1964.

Guide to collection is available at: https://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=lva/vi02003.xml.
Call number Record Group 62 Accession 26517
Date from 1958
Date to 1966
Geographic school Virginia
Size 276.8 cu feet
Access restrictions yes/no yes
Access restrictions Restricted access: redacted copies of the restricted materials are available.
Part Of larger collection yes/no no
Larger collection title
URL
Repository Library of Virginia
Repository address 800 East Broad Street, Richmond, VA 23219-8000
Repository contact name
Repository contact title Archives Reference Services
Repository contact email archdesk@lva.virginia.gov
Repository contact phone (804) 692-3888
DoveRegion region5
Subjects o    African American students

o    African Americans–Civil rights

o    Almond, J. Lindsay (James Lindsay), 1898-1986

o    Public schools

o    School children

o    School integration–Massive resistance movement

o    Segregation in education

o    Virginia. Department of Education

o    Virginia. General Assembly

o    Virginia. Pupil Placement Board
Types o    Bills (Legislative records)

o    Correspondence

o    Government papers

o    Legal documents

o    Minutes

o    Organizational Records

o    Reports
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York County (Va.) school records

York County (Va.) school records 

Creator Circuit Court Clerk
Description Includes term reports, the annual library report for elementary and secondary schools, and preliminary and final annual high school reports. These are for both white and black schools in York County. Principal’s reports list the teachers, their salaries, the number of days children attended school, and include statistical reports on the school libraries and PTAs. There are separate reports, required by the State Department of Education, on school libraries, 1933-1939, for both black and white schools. These give details on the training of library staff, the holdings of the library, and what kind of furniture was in the reading rooms. A more detailed list of contents: Principal’s or Head Teacher’s Term Reports, 1939-1978; Annual Library Reports for Elementary and Secondary Schools, 1933-1939; Annual High School Reports, 1964-1966; and Annual Junior High Reports, 1966-1967.
Call number Barcode number 1201613
Date from 1933
Date to 1978
Geographic school York County, VA
Size approximately .35 cubic feet
Access restrictions yes/no no
Access restrictions
Part Of larger collection yes/no
Larger collection title
URL http://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=lva/vi04031.xml
Repository Library of Virginia
Repository address 800 East Broad Street, Richmond, VA 23219-8000
Repository contact name
Repository contact title Archives Reference Services
Repository contact email archdesk@lva.virginia.gov
Repository contact phone (804) 692-3888
DoveRegion region5
Subjects o    African American students

o    High school students

o    Middle school students

o    Public schools

o    School children

o    Public schools–Virginia–York County

o    School principals
Types o    Financial records

o    Government papers

o    Report
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1963 Danville (Va.) Civil Rights Case Files 

1963 Danville (Va.) Civil Rights Case Files 

Creator Danville (Va.) Circuit Court.
Description The collection spans the years 1963-1973 and consists of court papers and legal files relating to the 1963 civil rights demonstrations in Danville. These files include bills of particulars, bond records, correspondence, court dockets, court orders, dicta-belts, evidence, judgments, petitions, photographs, receipts, subpoenas, and transcripts of testimony that document the legal aspects of the demonstrations from the Danville Corporation Court to the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. The summer of 1963 witnessed a wave of civil rights demonstrations throughout the nation. In Danville, Virginia, the leaders of the Danville Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), inspired by events in Birmingham, Alabama, organized a series of protests of their own. Rev. Lawrence G. Campbell, Rev. Alexander I. Dunlap, Julius E. Adams, and Arthur Pinchback, believing that the Danville NAACP under the leadership of Doyle Thomas was too conservative, had founded the Danville SCLC in 1960. These men, along with Rev. Lendall W. Chase, president of the Danville SCLC, took the lead in promoting civil rights in Danville, a city deep in Virginia’s black belt and strong in segregationist sentiment. Throughout 1962, they repeatedly appeared before the Danville City Council to demand black representation on the boards of city agencies and the end of segregation. In August 1962, Campbell, Dunlap, Adams, and Chase signed the Danville Omnibus Integration Suit, filed in federal court that called for the integration of Danville’s hospitals, schools, cemeteries, public buildings, public housing projects, teaching assignments, and city employment opportunities.
Call number Accession 38099
Date from 1963
Date to 1973
Geographic school Danville, VA
Size 5 reels; Dictabelt records; 40 compact discs
Access restrictions yes/no yes
Access restrictions Reproduction prohibited without the authorization of The Library of Virginia. Service copy compact discs are located at barcode 1154881. Barcodes 1161798-1164499 are not for public use, but are reserved for photoduplication requests.
Part Of larger collection yes/no no
Larger collection title
URL http://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=lva/vi00037.xml
Repository Library of Virginia
Repository address 800 East Broad Street, Richmond, VA 23219-8000
Repository contact name
Repository contact title Archives Reference Services
Repository contact email archdesk@lva.virginia.gov
Repository contact phone (804) 692-3888
DoveRegion region5
Subjects o    African American students

o    African Americans–Civil rights

o    Public schools

o    Race relations

o    School children

o    School integration

o    Segregation in education

o    Segregation in higher education

o    Southern Christian Leadership Conference

o    National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

o    Danville Omnibus Integration Suit

o    Circuit courts–Virginia
Types o    Government papers

o    Legal documents

o    Proceedings

o    Reports
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Virginia Teacher’s Registers for African American schools in New Kent County 

Virginia Teacher’s Registers for African American schools in New Kent County 

Creator New Kent County (Va.) Schools. New Kent High School
Description The booklets were records of achievement and attendance and listed names of students; sex, age, grade, names of parents or guardians, their address and occupation, along with student grades and the teacher’s term report (listing days taught, enrollment, attendance, and other statistical information). Restricted, for 75 years, because of privacy concerns. For 1944-1945, New Kent Training School (5 vols.); for 1950-1951, Cooks Mills School (1 vol.), Cumberland School (1 vol.), Lanexa School (1 vol.), Plum Point School (1 vol.), George W. Watkins School (6 vols.), and 1 unmarked; for 1952-1953, Cumberland School (1 vol.) and George W. Watkins School (8 vols.); for 1953-1954, Cumberland School (1 vol.), Lanexa School (1 vol.), George W. Watkins School (6 vols.), and 1 unmarked; for 1954-1955, Cumberland School (1 vol.) and George W. Watkins School (5 vols.); for 1955-1956, Cumberland School (1 vol.) and George W. Watkins School (9 vols.); for 1956-1957, George W. Watkins School (8 vols.); for 1957-1958, Cumberland School (3 vols.), Mountcastle School (1 vol.), Tunstall School (1 vol.), and Quinton School (1 vol.) George W. Watkins School was involved in a landmark civil rights case, Green v. County School Board of New Kent County 391 U.S. 430 (1968).
Call number Accession 43459
Date from 1944
Date to 1961
Geographic school New Kent County, VA
Size 2 boxes
Access restrictions yes/no yes
Access restrictions Student information in these unprocessed materials may be RESTRICTED under the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. Please contact Archives Research Services prior to visiting the Library of Virginia.
Part Of larger collection yes/no no
Larger collection title
URL http://www.lva.virginia.gov/agencies/records/sched_local/GS-21.pdf
Repository Library of Virginia
Repository address 800 East Broad Street, Richmond, VA 23219-8000
Repository contact name
Repository contact title Archives Reference Services
Repository contact email archdesk@lva.virginia.gov
Repository contact phone (804) 692-3888
DoveRegion region5
Subjects o    African American students

o    Public schools

o    School integration

o    Segregation in education

o    United States. Supreme Court

o    Public schools — Virginia — New Kent County
Types o    Annual reports

o    Government papers

o    Reports
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MacDonald and Associates African-American films 

MacDonald and Associates African-American films 

Creator MacDonald and Associates
Description 130 hours of daily newsreel from May 1956 to September 1959 touches many subjects in the civil rights struggle and other themes of the period.
Call number
Date from 1956
Date to 1959
Geographic school Virginia
Size 130 hours of daily newsreel
Access restrictions yes/no
Access restrictions
Part Of larger collection yes/no
Larger collection title
URL
Repository Library of Congress
Repository address 101 Independence Ave, SE, Washington, DC 20540
Repository contact name
Repository contact title Library of Congress
Repository contact email mpref@loc.gov
Repository contact phone (202) 707-9779
DoveRegion (outside of Virginia)
Subjects o    African American athletes

o    Civil rights–Cases

o    Discrimination in housing

o    King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968

o    Ku Klux Klan (1915- )

o    Lynching

o    School integration–Arkansas–Little Rock

o    School integration–Tennessee–Clinton

o    School integration–Virginia
Types o    Interviews

o    Sound recordings